Cristiano Ronaldo scored another Champions League hat-trick as Real Madrid thrashed Atletico Madrid in the semi-final first leg to close in on a third final in four years.
Real were utterly dominant throughout against their city rivals at
the Bernabeu and led after 10 minutes when Ronaldo headed home
Casemiro's cross.
It looked as if the hosts might fail to fully
capitalise on their superiority - until Ronaldo let the ball bounce and
smashed an unstoppable shot from 16 yards past Atletico keeper Jan
Oblak, who had made several saves to keep his side in the tie.
And
the Portugal forward ensured all the headlines would be his with a
second consecutive Champions League hat-trick, having scored five goals
in the quarter-final against Bayern Munich. It was his easiest goal of
the night, as he controlled Lucas Vazquez's cross in plenty of space
before firing home.
Atletico only had one shot on target and will
need to pull off one of the Champions League's all-time special
performances to stop double-chasing Real from ending their European
dreams for the fourth straight season.
Atletico were powerless to stop Ronaldo from taking the tie away from themRonaldo,
the top scorer in the history of the Champions League with 103 goals,
loves the big occasion. And occasions do not come much bigger.
He
has now scored one more goal - 52 - in the knockout stages than he has
in the group stages. He has now scored eight goals in his past three
games in the competition, and is up to 13 Champions League semi-final
goals.
At the age of 32, Ronaldo has reinvented himself as a
striker, rather than the marauding wide player we watched cutting in and
shooting for most of his career.
He was not heavily involved for
large periods of the game, with only 50 touches of the ball compared
with 123 for midfielder Toni Kroos. And he only had five shots - scoring
with all of his efforts on target, his only three touches in the
Atletico box.
Ronaldo was in an offside position when Sergio
Ramos' cross came in for the first goal, but the ball never reached him,
instead coming out to Casemiro, who crossed for the Portuguese to head
home.
His second came when Karim Benzema held off Diego Godin, and
Filipe Luis' follow-up clearance bounced up to Ronaldo, who lashed
home.
And he surely wrapped the tie up when he added a third in the 86th minute.
Can double-chasing Real make history?
No
team has retained the Champions League since its rebranding in 1992,
but Real - who were in the swashbuckling form we have seen for most of
the season - are in a great position to do so.
Manager Zinedine
Zidane, who led his side to last season's trophy with victory over
Atletico in the final in his first six months in charge, is chasing a
double - and their hopes of a first La Liga title since 2012 are in
their hands.
Real - who have now scored in 59 consecutive games -
had 17 shots against Atletico on Tuesday, with Benzema going close on
several occasions, most notably with a bicycle kick that went just wide
from Ronaldo's cross.
Raphael Varane almost scored with a header
but was denied by a brilliant Oblak stop, while fellow defender Dani
Carvajal, who went off injured at half-time, also forced a save from the
Atletico keeper.
Such is the strength of Zidane's squad that
Wales forward Gareth Bale, out with a calf injury, was not missed at all
- with replacement Isco impressing.
And now, on the back of their
first clean sheet in this year's tournament, they will surely fancy
their chances against Juventus or Monaco in the Cardiff final on
Saturday, 3 June.
Atletico's Real hex continues
Atletico Madrid were rare visitors to Real's penalty area (right-hand side of the graphic)Atletico
have spent most of their history in the shadows of Real so it is of
extreme irritation to them that one of their best periods has seen them
regularly thwarted by their rivals.
This is the fourth year in a
row the teams have met in the latter stages of the Champions League -
with Real winning the 2014 and 2016 finals, and the 2015 quarter-final.
Atletico
looked a shadow of the team Diego Simeone has turned into one of the
most feared in the world. They only had 38% of the ball on Tuesday and,
in the first half, misplaced 21.5% of their passes.
Atletico only managed four efforts on goal, with Diego Godin's easily saved header the only one on target.
Simeone,
who led Atletico to the 2013 Spanish league title, now faces arguably
the toughest test of his managerial career next week in the final
European match at the Vicente Calderon before their move to a new
stadium.
Man of the match - Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
There was only one choice for man of the match after Cristiano Ronaldo's second hat-trick of the season against Atletico Madrid
'We need to forget about this game'
Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone:
"We need to forget about this game.
"It seems impossible, but it is football and football has these unexpected things that make it marvellous.
"Until the last drip of hope is gone, we will give it everything we have." Real boss Zinedine Zidane:
"Cristiano is a goalscorer. He is unique. All the players were brilliant.
"I am happy with what I am doing here and with the players, we played a great game. We can hurt any side with our weapons."
The stats you need to know - Ronaldo levels Messi hat-trick record
Ronaldo has equalled Barcelona forward Lionel Messi's total of seven Champions League hat-tricks.
His treble saw him become the first player to reach 50 goals in the knockout stages of the competition (52).
Ronaldo
now has 13 semi-final goals in the Champions League (10 for Real
Madrid, three for Manchester United) - the most by any player.
The Portugal international has also scored more Champions League goals (103) than opponents Atletico Madrid (100).
None of the previous five teams to lose a Champions League semi-final first leg by three or more goals have reached the final.
Atletico
suffered their joint-worst Champions League defeat under Diego Simeone,
having also lost by a three-goal margin (4-1) against Real Madrid in
the 2014 final.
Real kept their first clean sheet in the
competition since last year's semi-final against Manchester City (in
both legs), ending a run of 11 successive games without one.
What's next?
Real
Madrid go to relegated Granada, managed by Tony Adams, on Saturday
(19:45 BST kick-off) as they continue to chase the Spanish title.
Atletico, who are in third place, host Eibar on the same day (15:15
BST).
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