Ton-up Ronaldo hailed by Zidane

REAL Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane hailed the “unique” talents of Cristiano Ronaldo after the Portugal forward netted a hat-trick in the 3-0 Champions League semifinal first-leg win over Atletico at the Bernabeu.

Ronaldo moved on to 100 European goals i n t he quar ter-final win over Bayern Munich, when he scored five times including a treble in the second leg.

The Portugal f orward again proved the man for the big occasion as holders Real moved within touching distance of another Champions League final appearance.

After heading the hosts into an early lead, albeit having looked offside in the initial build-up, Ronaldo smashed a second past Jan Oblak on 73 minutes and then knocked in a late third following another swift counter.

It was an all-round performance which l eft Zidane full of praise for his squad.

“Cristiano is a goalscorer. He is unique. All the players were brilliant,” the Real Madrid coach said.

“I am lucky to have these players. We try to play our football and enjoy ourselves. It works because we have great players with great attitudes.

“We knew what we had to do from the off and we played the game we wanted to. Today Isco played as a No 10 and was fantastic.

“We then had width with (substitutes) (Lucas) Va z q u e z a n d ( M a rc o ) Asensio. I n a defensive sense we were brilliant too.”

Hat-trick hero Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring his second goal for Real Madrid against Atletico.