Regal Ronaldo puts Real on verge of Champions League final

A ruthless Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a dazzling hat-trick to lead Real Madrid to a crushing 3-0 victory over city rivals Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.

The Portuguese forward put his team on the verge of their third final in four years and stretched his record tally to 103 goals in the competition as he helped Los Blancos vanquish their near neighbours at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday.

It was another demoralising European defeat for Atletico at the hands of Real, who had beaten Diego Simeone's side in two of the competition's last three finals.

The plaudits, however, belonged once again to Ronaldo, who headed home in the 10th minute after Casemiro’s bouncing cross caught out Atletico’s defence, before the Portuguese put his team on the verge of another final appearance after the break.

Karim Benzema set him up to smash home his second on the half-volley in the 73rd minute before he finished from close range as Atletico defence wore down with just minutes left on the clock.

The visitors’ best chance came during an intense first half, when Kevin Gameiro broke through after 17 minutes but was foiled by Keylor Navas as he tried to round the Real goalkeeper.

Diego Godin lunged in to divert an Antoine Griezmann free kick inches over the crossbar as Atletico sought an equaliser but after that it was one-way traffic as Zinedine Zidane’s men imposed their dominance on their neighbours once more in European competition.

Real captain Sergio Ramos was lucky to escape punishment after crashing his forearm into the back of Lucas Hernandez’s head shortly before halftime, but Atletico’s headache after this defeat will last longer than the Frenchman’s bruise.

Simeone’s side did not offer their usual fight in the second half as Real killed the game off, and perhaps the tie, with Ronaldo, playing in a centre-forward role alongside Benzema, the executioner.

His unstoppable strike from the edge of the box doubled the home team’s lead and he completed his 42nd hat-trick in a Real shirt shortly before the end after good work by substitute Lucas Vazquez.

Ronaldo scored all three goals as Madrid beat Atletico by the same scoreline at the Vicente Calderon in La Liga last November and Tuesday's treble means Atletico's final European game at that stadium next week is now likely to be a sombre affair.