The 66th Madrid Derby at the Vicente Calderon was always going to be a special one, with Atletico Madrid having played their last fixture at their current home ground in the La Liga. The Rojiblancos will be playing at their new home ground, Estadio Olimpico de Madrid from the beginning of the 2017/18 season.
Atletico, who came into the match having not lost the last six league derbies against Real Madrid, had to leave disappointed as an out-of-form Cristiano Ronaldo found the perfect stage to silence his critics with an excellent hat-trick and thus give Real Madrid a thumping 3-0 win over their city rivals.
The home side had the better start to the match as they attacked right from the word go. Real Madrid took some time to get settled, but Zinedine Zidane's tactics outmatched that of his counterpart's as his team executed his plans to perfection and handed their opponents their first Liga defeat at home in 23 games.
Real Madrid's unbeaten start to the season continues as their lead at the top of the La Liga improves to four points, over second-placed. Diego Simeone's men have been struggling to adapt to their manager's new system and now languish in the fifth position, nine points behind Real Madrid following the derby defeat.
Here is how all the players performed in this exciting and intense fixture:
Atletico Madrid
Jan Oblak (Goalkeeper): 6/10
The Slovenian keeper was unlucky to concede the first goal as the free kick deflected off one of his players, sending him the wrong way. He could not do much about the other two goals. Oblak made some vital saves early on in the first half to keep his side in the game at the break.
Juanfran Torres: 5/10
The right-back had a decent first half as he kept Gareth Bale quiet much of the time. However, he was not able to provide much to his side going forward and was not able to supply crosses to his forwards.
Stefan Savic: 4.5/10
Savic had a game to forget as he was at fault for the first two goals. The free kick from Ronaldo was deflected off Savic's hips and although this might seem unfortunate, the centre-back, along with Gabi, should have been more disciplined in the wall. Savic also gave away a silly penalty in the second half, allowing Real to double their lead.
Diego Godin: 5/10
An unimpressive performance from the usually reliable centre-back. Godin was not able to rally his troops, especially once Atletico's defensive cover, Gabi was taken off.
Filipe Luis: 6/10
The Brazilian was the best of the Atletico defenders as he was always available as an option to his forwards. Luis also made some important tackles and did not allow Lucas Vazquez much freedom.
Saul Niguez: 5.5/10
The midfielder failed to get involved much in the game. The only chance of note was when Saul almost converted Koke's lofted pass but failed to get the shot on target.
Koke: 6.5/10
One of the best players in a lacklustre performance by Atletico. Koke's display proved how useful a player he is through the middle. None of his passes and set pieces was converted by his teammates. However, the Spaniard did not contribute much defensively.
Gabi: 5.5/10
The Atletico Madrid captain did not have a very productive game. Was taken off in the 62nd minute as a tactical change by his manager. Gabi was partly at fault for the free kick scored by Ronaldo, as he along with Savic failed to maintain discipline in the wall as they left a gap that proved vital. Also received a yellow card for a rash tackle on Luka Modric.
Yannick Carrasco: 7/10
By far, Atletico's best player on the pitch. Carrasco was fearless, attacked the Real defence constantly and probably deserved a goal. But, some bad finishing and good saves kept him away from the goal sheet.
Fernando Torres: 5.5/10
Torres did not get many chances in the 61 minutes he was on the pitch. The Spaniard was not able to get much service and the one shot he had did not trouble the Real Madrid defence.
Antoine Griezmann: 6/10
Although the Frenchman had a silent first half, he had a bright start to the second half. However, the final touch was missing from Griezmann's foot as he was kept in check by the impressive Real Madrid defenders.
Substitutes:
Angel Correa: 5/10
Correa came on for Gabi in the 62nd minute in what was a tactical change, with Simeone looking to add more firepower up front. The 21-year-old failed to add anything to the attack.
Kevin Gameiro: 5/10
Gameiro was also brought on in the 62nd minute to replace an ineffective Torres. The French striker, who has had a good season, was not able to change the rhythm of the match.
Real Madrid
Keylor Navas (Goalkeeper): 8/10
Navas did not have much to do in the first half as Atletico did not take many shots. As the match was nearing the end with the home side looking for a consolation, quite a few shots were saved by Navas. He also organised his defence well.
Dani Carvajal: 7.5/10
The right-back put in a good shift at the back for Real Madrid. Although he was troubled by Carrasco on a few occasions, Carvajal was able to help his side keep a clean sheet.
Raphael Varane: 8.5/10
The French defender is slowly growing into one of the best centre-backs in the world right now. With Sergio Ramos’ absence, the onus was on Varane to lead at the back, and he did it to perfection, tackling, intercepting and keeping out the Atletico forwards time and again.
Nacho Fernandez: 8/10
Nacho played a good supporting role along with Varane and kept things tight at the back, filling in well for his injury-recovering captain.
Marcelo Vieira: 8/10
The left-back was good at both ends of the pitch as he defended well and thwarted attacks while also playing a willing role in the buildup in the attack. His cross to Ronaldo in the first half was the first real chance that Real had and that helped the team settle down.
Luka Modric: 8/10
Another consistent performance put in by Modric, the midfield general. He ran things from the centre of the pitch for Real. Could have had a goal in the first half as his scuffed shot was saved by Oblak.
Mateo Kovacic: 7.5/10
An able partner for his fellow Croatian in the middle of the pitch. Kovacic was ready to do the dirty work time and again and put in the tackles necessary to stop Atletico's attacks.
Isco Suarez: 9/10
Injury troubles at Real Madrid helped Isco grab the opportunity of starting the derby, and he put in a great shift for Los Blancos. He had a lot of the ball throughout the duration he was on the pitch. The 24-year-old provided a great pass to Gareth Bale who set up Real Madrid's third goal.
Lucas Vazquez: 7/10
The young attacker was given more of a defensive role by his manager this match and he was happy to track back and help out his defence. His defensive duties earned him a yellow card.
Cristiano Ronaldo: 10/10
After going through a lean patch of late, the three-time FIFA Ballon d’Or winner came up with a top quality performance scoring his 39th hat-trick for Real Madrid. Although his first goal was a deflected free-kick, Ronaldo was brilliant throughout as Karim Benzema's absence gave him more freedom at the top of the attacking line.
Gareth Bale: 8.5/10
Despite being almost invisible in the first half, Bale came back stronger after the break and had much more of the ball. In a brilliant counter-attack, he set up Ronaldo for the latter's hat-trick with an inch-perfect low cross.
Substitutes
Karim Benzema: NA
Played only the last 10 minutes of the match. The striker was given a run by his manager after an injury layoff.
James Rodriguez: NA
Came on for the hat-trick hero, Ronaldo in the 83rd minute. Too little time to make any impact in the game.
Marco Asensio: NA
Came on in the 86th minute. Too little time to make any impact in the game.
