Cristiano Ronaldo struck a brilliant hat-trick as Real Madrid crushed rivals Atletico Madrid 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday. The Portuguese forward put his team on the verge of their third final in four years and took his tally to 103 goals in the competition as he helped Madrid vanquish their city rivals at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Ronaldo headed home in the 10th minute after Casemiro’s bouncing cross caught out Atletico’s defence, as Madrid dominated the first half.Karim Benzema set him up to smash home his second on the half-volley in the 73rd minute and he finished from close range with four minutes remaining as Atletico offered little resistance.
The four-time Ballon d'Or winner downed Bayern Munch with a treble in the previous round and now has seven Champions League hat-tricks to his name, apparently rendering next week's return at the Vicente Calderon a formality.
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Real Madrid manager Zidane while praising Ronaldo also reserved praise for the whole team. Speaking after the match, Zidane said:
"Cristiano is a goalscorer. He's unique. All the players were brilliant. One lad comes off and another one comes on and plays a great game."We knew what we had to do from the off and we played the game we wanted to."
Real Madrid defender Varane while pleased with his team’s performance, told them to be wary of an Atletico Madrid backlash in the second leg:
"We're happy with the result. We didn't concede and that's crucial in a Champions League knockout tie," he said. "We all worked hard and Cristiano Ronaldo was outstanding, he always makes the difference in the big games.
"We won the battle but we haven't won the war."We thank the fans for their support because they played a key role, gave us added strength and together we’ve managed to win it."
Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid will be sick of facing Real Madrid in the Champions League. After having suffered two well-documented losses in the final of Europe’s premier competition, Ronaldo’s hat-trick seems to have handed them another crushing loss.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid fans, sit back and enjoy one of the greatest performances and victories of this season.
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