TREBLE YELL! Ronaldo hits 47th hat-trick

Superstar smashes hat-trick to put Real on track for the final

THE ball sat up nicely, but not that nicely. It didn’t have to fly in the way it did, it didn’t have to be struck with such phenomenal power and accuracy. Cristiano Ronaldo does not have to make it look this easy. It’s just what he does, that’s all.

He takes centre stage, always. And the bigger that stage, the more he wants it. He is not just one of the best players to have played the game, but one of the most courageous. He never hides. He is always prepared to fail, yet rarely does.

It is not just ego that drives him, but valour. Of course he could lay it off; of course he could let another take the responsibility. But he never does.

It is his job to take Real Madrid to another final, it is his job to finish Atletico Madrid. And he has, barring a miraculous fightback.

Atletico are a good team. Whether they are a 4-0 win in the second leg, is another matter. Let’s face it, they’re not.

If the second goal looked to have done for them, the third opened the door to oblivion. At 1-0, Diego Simeone’s team were still on familiar territory. It was Ronaldo’s second of the night that has shifted them out of their comfort zone, his third that condemned them to the wilderness.

The second came after 73 minutes. Marcelo played in Karim Benzema on the edge of the area and he flicked it on to Ronaldo. Filipe Luis tried to steal it, but got rolled instead.

At that point, the ball popped invitingly and Ronaldo has never been one to turn down an invitation. In it went from roughly 20 yards, Jan Oblak in goal with no chance. A brilliant strike, his 102nd in this competition, and totally deserved given Real’s domination.

Even the third did not flatter them, Ronaldo turning it in from inside the penalty area, his new favourite position, from a Lucas Vazquez cross. Atletico were done. So was Ronaldo. It is as if he was put on earth for nights like this; and nobody does it better.

Even though there have been questions raised over the accuracy of the statistic, Real Madrid announced afterwards that the Portuguese has now scored 400 goals for the club and he was elated after the final whistle.

‘I am very happy for the goals I have scored and to reach 400 with Real Madrid,’ he said.

‘It was a total team match. We were phenomenal. We have a good advantage, but this is not finished because Atletico are very strong.

‘They are not in the semi-finals by chance and we will have to concentrate next Wednesday.

‘But we have to congratulate the whole team.

‘It was my objective to score goals. We played well from the beginning to the end.’

This late phase of Ronaldo’s career is one of the most interesting developments in the modern game. We have frequently seen forwards reinvented as midfield players.

Glenn Hoddle went from No 10 to sweeper, Ruud Gullitt dropped back to midfield and then into defence, too. Usually, the player retreats through the team.

Ronaldo, at 32, is a forward reinventing himself as another forward; a different forward; a centre-forward, in essence.

He no longer runs at defences. Instead, he lurks. He still has that phenomenal eye for goal, but instead of using it for the spectacular, taking people on from anywhere, scoring goals that burn into the memory, he poaches. His movement, his reading of the game, his instinct, his bravery, he puts it all to work in front of goal.

Look at the headers he scores now. He’s always been good in the air, fearless and strong, with a fantastic leap and admirable abandon. A man who spends so much time working on his sculpted image really should pay more attention to whether he gets his teeth knocked out, but Ronaldo never does.

All those years ago, playing for Manchester United, he scored a header in a Champions League win against Roma that remains one of the boldest many will ever see. A split second out in the timing and he could have spent the rest of the night looking for his incisors near the penalty spot. Instead, he sent the ball into the net with the force of one of his mighty free-kicks.

He didn’t do that last night, but he got his head in first to give Real Madrid a 10th-minute lead, he outjumped Stefan Savic, whose job it is to win headers for Atletico Madrid and, in doing so, he added to the 100 Champions League goals he took into this game.

What an achievement that is. He has scored 13 times in Champions League semi-finals alone.

Considering the individual attention he receives from markers and defenders it is a talent bordering on escapology. Now he no longer roams all over the pitch, how does Ronaldo find space in the most tightly guarded area, around the opposing goal?

Who knows? He just does. This is not just about his ability, but his wit. He truly has one of the sharpest minds the game has ever known. What a wonder he is.

‘It is great to have a player like him,’ said midfielder Toni Kroos post-match. ‘He scored five in the quarter-finals and three tonight.

‘It is unbelievable and very important for us.’

Diego Simeone put a relative rookie up against Ronaldo in his wide starting position, Lucas Hernandez, and he wasted no time in leaving the Real Madrid talisman on his backside two minutes in.

Ronaldo responded by moving inside for the next attack, picking up a ball from Raphael Varane and firing it impatiently over. He was anxious to get started. He was determined to get Real’s show on the road.

He didn’t have to wait long. After seven minutes, a sprint and a one-two from the excellent Dani Carvajal forced a save from Oblak that owed more to luck than judgment and Benzema should have done more with the loose ball.

Three minutes later, Madrid were ahead. Sergio Ramos planted an attempted cross into the turf, the ball reared up and was headed clear. Casemiro recycled it sharply, and there was Ronaldo, above Savic, quickest to react to head past Oblak. Boom, 101.

It was all Real from there, and not just because they are arguably the most technically gifted team in the world right now. Their work rate was sensational. Isco, in particular, was outstanding — forcing errors in areas that are uncommon for Atletico.

Oblak made a magnificent save from Varane after 16 minutes following a corner by Kroos, Benzema had a shot stopped from another neat pass from Carvajal and Oblak palmed one out which travelled as far as Luka Modric 20 yards from goal, unable to get his shot on target. Had Benzema’s overhead kick from Ronaldo’s cross after 29 minutes gone in, it would have been one of the goals of the season.

Atletico, while still in it at just a goal down, were largely disappointing.

Keylor Navas made a courageous save at the feet of Kevin Gameiro after 17 minutes, put through by Saul Niguez, but that was about it from them.

The greatest disappointment for Real was what looked to be a hamstring injury to Carvajal shortly before half-time.

If it keeps him out for the rest of the season, it would be a rotten blow.

He is in outstanding form right now and deserves to be with this team all the way.