Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid 3-0 at the Bernabeu on Tuesday, May 2. Here are all the highlights from the Champions League semifinal first leg.
Real Madrid have beaten Atletico Madrid in the past three seasons of the Champions League, twice in the final and once in the quarterfinals in 2014-15. This season’s European Madrid derby came at a new stage, the semifinals, but the result appears like it will be exactly the same.
Real were pegged back early on, but took the lead in the eighth minute, with Cristiano Ronaldo heading in from close range for his 101st Champions League goal. Atleti were uncharacteristically careless defending Sergio Ramos’ cross, though they were perhaps thrown off by the fact Ronaldo was in an offside position during the buildup to the goal.
The pattern of play went much as everyone expected for the remainder of the first half, Atleti dropping deep and looking to play on the break as Real dominated possessio. Raphael Varane saw his head parried wide by an excellent Jan Oblak save, but other than that the home side failed to seriously test their rivals.
Los Blancos seemed to take their foot off the gas in the opening exchanges of the second half, but doubled their lead in the 73rd minute all the same. Ronaldo was the scorer again, this time with a powerful half volley following a slightly fortuitous deflection of Filipe Luis.
Ronaldo completed his second hat-trick in as many Champions League matches in the 86th minute, finishing calmly past Oblak after a Lucas Vasquez cutback.
Next: Are Tottenham now the biggest team in north London?
Highlights
"Ronaldo heads in his 6th goal in his last three #UCL games, and his 50th in the knockout stage (yes, also a record). https://t.co/oVJVB8RZwL— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) May 2, 2017"
"The concentration. The power. What a finish, @Cristiano.🔥🔥 #UCL https://t.co/mzDnBFtG90— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) May 2, 2017"
"Ronaldo scored just 2 goals in this season’s #UCL group stage.He has EIGHT in his last three games. https://t.co/0w1FYUmV7d— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) May 2, 2017"
The second leg will take place at the Vicente Calderon on Wednesday, April 10.