Regal Ronaldo puts Real Madrid on verge of another European final
against Bayern Munich in the quarterfinal second leg at the Bernabeu with another superb treble, his 42nd in all for Madrid.
“It is great to have a player like Ronaldo. You need someone to score to get the result and he is unbelievable,” said Real midfielder Toni Kroos, praising his teammate on BT Sport.
Ronaldo headed home in the 10th minute after Casemiro’s bouncing cross caught out Atletico’s defense, before putting his team on the verge of another final appearance after the break.
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.
“We are very happy with the game, with the three goals and above all keeping a clean sheet at home,” said Real’s coach Zinedine Zidane, after taking a huge step closer to guiding his side towards becoming the first to successfully defend the European Cup since AC Milan in 1990.
Yet the prospect of a La Liga-Champions League double was also on his mind with his side currently lying in second place in the Spanish title race on the same number of points as Barcelona, but with a game in hand.
“I’m very proud of everyone. We are going to enjoy it, rest, and then REAL MADRID forward Cristiano Ronaldo shoots to score the second of his three goals past Atletico Madrid ’keeper Jan Oblak during Real’s 3-0 victory in Tuesday night’s first leg of the Champions League semifinals between the neighboring rivals at the Bernabeu. tomorrow start thinking about our game in La Liga [at Granada on Saturday],” Zidane added.
The visitor’s best chance came during an intense first half, when Kevin Gameiro broke through after 17 minutes, but was foiled by Keylor Navas as he tried to round the Madrid goalkeeper.
Diego Godin lunged in to divert an Antoine Griezmann free kick inches over the crossbar as Atletico sought an equalizer but after that it was one-way traffic as Madrid imposed its dominance on its neighbor once more in European competition.
Madrid captain Sergio Ramos was lucky to escape punishment after crashing his forearm into the back of Lucas Hernandez’s head shortly before halftime, but Atletico’s headache after this defeat will last longer than the Frenchman’s bruise.
Simeone’s side did not offer its usual fight in the second half as Madrid killed the game off, and perhaps the tie, with Ronaldo, playing in a center-forward role alongside Benzema, the executioner.
His unstoppable strike from the edge of the box doubled Madrid’s lead and he completed his hat-trick shortly before the end after good work by substitute Lucas Vazquez.
Ronaldo also scored all three goals as Madrid beat Atletico by the same score-line at the Vicente Calderon in La Liga last November and Tuesday’s treble means Atletico’s final European game there next week is now likely to be a somber affair.
Yet the irrepressible Simeone has not given up hope of the most improbable of comebacks quite yet.
“Football is wonderful, it’s impossible and unexpected things happen. It’s wonderful. Until the last chance expires, we will play to reach the final,” the Argentine told reporters.
No longer the flying winger of old, Ronaldo showed his transformation to deadly center-forward has been completed to perfection, producing a performance that marked him out as arguably the world’s best number nine, despite being a recent convert to the position.
While the 32-year-old’s critics point out he has lost some of his pace and the dribbling ability that allowed him to terrorize fullbacks in the past, the forward proved again that he remains as deadly as ever inside the area.
Tuesday’s treble took his tally for Real Madrid to 399 goals in 389 games, although the forward claims he scored another in 2010 that was officially awarded to defender Pepe.
“I am very happy for the goals and for reaching 400 goals with Real Madrid,” said Ronaldo, including the disputed effort. “We have to congratulate the whole team, we were tremendous. It fell to me to score the goals. We played well from start to finish and the goals came naturally.”
As well as a positional switch, Ronaldo has had to deal this season with being rotated by Zidane, who has dropped the Portuguese for some of the team’s away trips to keep him fresh for the big occasions.
This has paid dividends with Ronaldo netting eight times in his last three Champions League games and overtaking Alfredo di Stefano as the all-time top scorer in European Cup semifinals with 13.
“He has the instinct for goals, he’s unique,” said Zidane. “Sometimes he needs to rest and he knows that because he’s intelligent.”
Barring a miracle comeback by Atletico in the second leg Ronaldo will spearhead his team in the final in Cardiff on June 3, with the Portuguese looking in perfect shape to add a fourth Champions League medal to his collection. (Reuters)