On Tuesday evening, the semifinals stage of the UEFA Champions League started.
The first to compete at the "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium were two Madrid clubs - "Real" and "Atletico". Led by Cristiano Ronaldo, the "whites" took a solid step towards the final - Diego Simeone's students were defeated with a crushing 3-0 result.
The match began with both teams playing a positional game, but soon the hosts started creating dangerous attacks near the "Atletico" goal.
In the 6th minute, Dani Carvajal made a great move into the penalty area and took a shot on goal, but Jan Oblak's reaction didn't disappoint and the ball was deflected out of bounds.
Nevertheless, the wait for the first goal at the "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium was not long - following a pass from Casemiro, Cristiano Ronaldo, who had broken free from the opponents, scored with a header to put the current Champions League winners in the lead.
In the 16th minute, "Real" almost increased their advantage to two goals, but once again J. Oblak came to the rescue. The Slovenian goalkeeper repelled a dangerous header by Raphael Varane from a corner.
In the 23rd minute, Luka Modrić had a shot from afar towards the goal, and five minutes later Karim Benzema came close to an impressive goal, but the Frenchman's shot missed the target - the ball flew past the post.
At the end of the first half, "Real" lost Dani Carvajal due to injury and he couldn't continue the match. In the second half, "Atletico" started to attack more, but they didn't create any particularly dangerous opportunities near Keylor Navas' goal.
In the 73rd minute, C. Ronaldo spoke once again - the Portuguese sent a ball descending from the air into J. Oblak's goal with a great shot, making the score 2-0.
"Atletico" completely collapsed after the second goal and didn't create any more attacks, while "Real" scored their third goal in the 86th minute, bringing them closer to the final. During a quick counterattack, Lucas Vazquez sprinted down the wing and delivered a pass into the penalty area, where C. Ronaldo, left unmarked, definitively finished off the "Rojiblancos".
For the best footballer on the planet, this was his second consecutive "hat-trick" in the last two Champions League matches. In addition, C. Ronaldo surpassed the 400-goal mark for "Real" club after his "hat-trick".
The return leg match at the "Vicente Calderon" stadium will take place on May 10th.
Result:
"Real Madrid" 3 - 0 "Atletico"
10' [1 - 0] C. Ronaldo
73' [2 - 0] C. Ronaldo
86' [3 - 0] C. Ronaldo
Starting lineups:
"Real Madrid": Keylor Navas; Dani Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo; Isco, Luka Modrić, Casemiro, Toni Kroos; Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema.
Substitutes: Kiko Casilla, Nacho, Lucas Vazquez, Mateo Kovačič, James Rodriguez, Marco Asensio, Alvaro Morata.
"Atletico": Jan Oblak; Lucas Hernandez, Stefan Savič, Diego Godin, Filipe Luis; Gabi, Saul Niguez, Koke, Yannick Carrasco; Antoine Griezmann, Kevin Gameiro.
Substitutes: Moya, Tiago, Alberto R, Thomas, Nicolas Gaitan, Andrea Correa, Fernando Torres.
"Real" - "Atletico" 3-0
86' - C. Ronaldo ("Real") - scored a goal - 3:0
83' - S. Savičius ("Atletico") - yellow card
73' - C. Ronaldo ("Real") - scored a goal - 2:0
53' - S. Nuguezas ("Atletico") - yellow card
48' - Isco ("Real") - yellow card
26' - Koke ("Atletico") - yellow card
10' - C. Ronaldo ("Real") 1-0
