Atletico 0 Real Madrid 3: Cristiano Ronaldo bags superb hat-trick to sink neighbours in Madrid derby
Zinedine Zidane's side extended their lead at the summit of La Liga and remain unbeaten
CRISTIANO RONALDO made Real Madrid’s noisy neighbours shut up.
But it was controversial.
Yes, the Real megastar banged a historic hat-trick that left Atletico Madrid shell-shocked.
But Ron’s second goal came from a highly controversial penalty. A Pen-aldo as they call the ones the Portugal superstar “earns” when he goes down in the box.
Regardless, Real have opened up a four-point gap from Barcelona at the top of La Liga in emphatic fashion. And they are now NINE points clear of Atletico.
That is what matters.
They call it El Derbi here. As opposed to El Clasico.
But those two have now met each other in two of the last three Champions League finals making this THE rivalry in the European game.
And there was so much at stake here for both sides, with Atletico desperate to close the gap from leaders Real.
But Zinedine Zidane’s unbeaten run in charge of Real now stretches to 29 matches in all competitions and seven-and-a-half months. They are unbeaten since April 6, when they lost 2-0 at Wolfsburg before coming back to win 3-0 in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final last season.
We came to see a repeat of the last Champions League final. And we did. The first half belonged to Real, the second to Atletico. Yet, somehow, Real came out the winners. Again. Like in Milan last May.
This time it was not on pens. But on a pen.
Ron gave them a first-half lead with a deflected free-kick off Stefan Savic. Luka Modric and Ron also forced key saves from Jan Oblak. Atletico came back after the restart but neither Antoine Griezmann nor Yannick Carrasco could find the target. Griezmann also forced a key save from Keylor Navas.
When Ron went down in the box under a challenge from Savic, there was very little contact. And it was the Real ace who looked for it, too. But the ref bought it, pointed to the spot, up stepped Ron, to double Real’s lead. Minutes later Bale’s exquisite assist gave Ronaldo a tap-in.
Astonishing to think that this was Real’s first La Liga win over Atletico in three-and-a-half years.
Before Diego Simeone arrived this was a one-sided rivalry for decades. Anything but a derby in fact.
Historically out of 49 Liga derbies at the Calderon, since its inaugural year in 1966, Atletico have only managed 9 home wins against their bitterest enemies to Real’s 28 away triumphs including last night.
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This was an emotional farewell to the Calderon as this was the last La Liga Madrid derby here.
Next season Atletico move to their new stadium 10 miles northwest of here. In Real Madrid heartland, no less. But that’s another story.
Even though there’s been a marked improvement under Simeone Atletico are still just the noisy neighbours, to borrow Sir Alex Ferguson’s famous catchphrase.
Atletico’s story is very similar to the rise of Manchester City to rival United. But Real Madrid are not about to sink into any kind of prolonged crisis like United.
To be fair Real have only won La Liga once in the last eight years – same as Atletico. But they have also won the Champions League twice, beating Atletico in both finals so that keeps the Galactico model afloat.
Atletico have had their moments, naturally, in Simeone’s five-year reign. But to give you an idea they have only beaten Madrid ONCE in La Liga here in the last decade.
That’s how dominant Real have been.
Mind you, this solitary win was the 4-0 triumph that sealed Carlo Ancelotti’s fate as he was dismissed the following summer after a trophyless season.
In that season Ancelotti had gone on a fantastic run of 22 consecutive wins in all competitions. But the humiliation at the Calderon all but sealed his fate.
But Zidane’s unbeaten run shows no signs of ending, right now.
Stats don’t always tell you the full story. But Real had only beaten Atletico once in their previous 11 matches. Only that was the Champions League final in Milan.
In the 20 derbies before Simeone arrived Atletico had just managed four draws losing 16 times.
Since the Argentinian came in they have now played 21 times. Atletico won seven, drawn six with Real prevailing eight times. Last night was the one that put Real ahead in Simeone’s time in charge.
And they all but KO’d Atletico in the title race.
