Ronaldo scores hat-trick as Real beat Atletico 3-0

A Cristiano Ronaldo hat trick carried Real Madrid over city rivals Atletico in the Madrid derby for a convincing win.

Whilst a point will be enough for Madrid to seal their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League for a record 20th consecutive season, anything other than victory will end Sporting’s chances of making the last 16. There is so much expected of him, but he is ahead of the rest.

Cristiano Ronaldo scores the second goal from the penalty spot.

Spanish radio station Cadena Cope revealed the alleged exchange when the pair came to blows in the changing rooms, with the three-time Ballon d’Or victor responding to Koke’s alleged slur by saying, ‘A f****t with a lot of money, you b******’.

While he had come in for some criticsm, Zindane feels his showing against Atleti proves he is the best player in the world.

The Portuguese forward was on top form, and scored the 39th hat-trick of his career as Real ended their bad run of form against Atletico in the league with a sumptuous win.

Then Griezmann suddenly came to life; striding on to a Koke pass to pull his shot across goal from a tight angle and then firing at Keylor Navas after more Real uncertainty.

Zidane has said, however, that he was not confident that the Portugal global will continue in the No.9 role going forward.

With Alvaro Morata missing through injury sustained on worldwide duty, the return of Karim Benzema after two weeks out is an important boost for Zinedine Zidane.

Atletico Madrid left-back Felipe Luis with the ball.

“They [Sporting] have not surprised us”, the Frenchman added.

“We must know how to control our own emotions and be together to be able to perform, because we perfectly well understand what we need from this game”.

“Playing against Atletico is hard, but we were incredible in terms of intensity and we were able to make the right decisions in practically every moment”.

“With Torres, Saul (Niguez), (Diego) Godin and (Stefan) Savic will also balanced up their height at set-pieces which is something important to consider”.

“Tonight Cristiano shut the mouths of those that doubted him”, said Real winger Lucas Vazquez.