Cristiano Ronaldo continued his fine form in the UEFA Champions League, as he netted a hat-trick to lead Real Madrid a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid in their first leg semi-final tie.
Los Blancos broke the deadlock after nine minutes when Ronaldo rose above Stefan Savic to head home Casemiro’s cross.
Real nearly doubled their lead in the 16th minute but Jan Oblak was produced a super save to keep out Raphael Varane’s header.
Atletico carved out their first opening after 31 minutes when Antoine Griezmann picked out Diego Godin, who fired over the crossbar at the far post.
Diego Simeone’s charges enjoyed a bit more of the ball in the final 15 minutes of the opening stanza, but struggled to create clear-cut openings.
Los Blancos were dealt a blow on the stroke of halftime when Dani Carvajal picked up a knock. He was replaced by Nacho.
With Atletico struggling to break down the Real defence, Simeone introduced Fernando Torres and Nicolas Gaitan in the 56th minute.
However, it was Los Blancos who got the next goal in the 73rd minute as the ball deflected into the path of Ronaldo, who volleyed home from the edge of the box, 2-0.
Zinedine Zidane opted for a change with just over 10 minutes to go, as Karim Benzema made way for Lucas Vazquez.
Ronaldo went on to complete his hat-trick in the 85th minute, as Vazquez raced to the byline before pulling the back for the Portuguese forward, who slotted home from close range, 3-0.
