Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance meant far more than the three goals and the three points that put Real Madrid in the driver’s seat for their first La Liga crown in half a decade. Following a contract extension, worth a reported 167 million euros that keeps the forward at the Santiago Bernabeu for the next five years, questions were asked over how the 31-year-old will fit into the squad going forward considering his decreasing ability to take on players in one-on-one situations.
Against Atlético those questions were answered. Ronaldo’s continued transformation from a free-roaming player surging down the wings to a more constrained striker causing havoc inside the box should put renewed fear into defences trying to restrain the goalscoring
machine.
In front of goal, Ronaldo is one of the greatest finishers of all time who is already the top scorer in Real Madrid history, with a scoring rate that is higher than the greats that came before him Raul Gonzalez, Alfredo Di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas.
With Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Casemiro, Morata and Toni Kroos among the first-team regulars not available for Real Madrid against Atlético, Ronaldo displayed that special winning quality that makes him the first name on the team sheet in the Spanish capital.
Though Isco may have deserved Man of the Match award for his inspired midfield play, it was Ronaldo who bagged the goals. Zidane built the formation to feed him, and the Portuguese striker did his part.
He scored the first by taking advantage of a poor wall on a free-kick, earned and scored the penalty that made it 2-0, and finished the match with a tap-in from Bale’s excellent cross. Ronaldo was at the end of every offensive move for Real Madrid. Atlético were determined to celebrate the last Madrid league derby at their stadium with a victory, before they head to their new ground next season, but instead they were left licking their wounds and wondering what had hit them as CR7 notched up the 39th hat-trick of his illustrious career.