Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid: Five things we learned as Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick inspires champions to victory

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to guide Real Madrid to a 3-0 victory against city rivals Atletico and put the current European champions in touching distance of another Champions League final.

Atletico were outclassed and outplayed at the Bernabeu, with Ronaldo once again delivering the goods for his side.

Diego Simeone's men now face a mountain to climb if they're to avoid exiting Europe's elite competition at the hands of their rivals once again.

Here's five things we learned...

There seems to be no end to Cristiano Ronaldo's talent. The ongoing reductionism of his game has been repeatedly highlighted this season but, on the big occasion, the Portuguese keeps on delivering. Nobody had expected him to last this long but he really is the gift that keeps on giving.

His early header was vital in handing Real initial momentum to dominate proceedings, with the home side going on to enjoy the lion's share of possession and chances for the rest of the first half. Then, with 20-odd minutes to go, at a point when Atletico still stood a realistic chance of fighting their way back into the game, once again the Portuguese popped up. His third and final goal all but seals the deal for Real and leaves Atletico with a mountain to climb in the second leg. Once again, Real are indebted to their golden child.

This was the fifth time Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid met in the European Cup, of which the former have won the previous four ties. While Atletico's men have excelled against their city rivals on the domestic stage in recent years, the Champions League has very much become their kryptonite. No team have eliminated Simeone’s men from Europe but their greatest rivals. No wonder, then, that Atletico are known as el pupas - the jinxed ones. Asked what would be different this time, Gabi had said before the game: “We hope the result will be.” But if tonight’s score-line is anything to go by, along with the performance that came with it, Atletico look to be on course for fresh heartbreak. Unable to find that all-important away goal, the visitors head into the second-leg with it all to do.

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Atletico Madrid are in the midst of a full-blown defensive injury-crisis and the question on everybody’s lips was how was Simeone going to plug the gaps left by the absences of Jose Gimenez and Juanfran?

In the end – for all the excitable speculation that he would switch systems or drop one of Saul Niguez or Koke back to man-mark Ronaldo – he didn’t attempt to try and reinvent the wheel. The youngster Lucas Hernandez, a central defender by trade, was parachuted in and shunted out wide. Was it the correct decision? Perhaps not. The 21-year-old Hernandez found himself struggling against the likes of Ronaldo and Marcelo, who was excellent in getting forward down the left flank, for much of the night. On the big occasion, nerves looked to get the better of him.

For much of the season, questions have persisted over whether Real are actually maximising the full quality of their starting XI. Real have rarely convinced as a team in Europe this season, but rarely need to because their overall strength keeps them stable before one of their stars produces. So it was against Bayern, against Napoli before that, and right through this new era of Champions League dominance for the competition’s most successful ever club.

But it was a different story tonight. From the off Real looked the better side. Coherent, slick and assured; Zinedine Zidane's men radiated with confidence and the belief that the game was already theirs. They enjoyed the majority of possession – as was to be expected – but capitalised on it with good effect, keeping the visitors pinned back inside their own final third for much of the match, creating chance after chance. With Ronaldo leading the charge, they looked the real deal tonight in what was their best European performance this season.

Rio Ferdinand had said before the game that Atletico's inability to competently deal with crossed deliveries could pose a danger to the visitors. This very much proved to be the case tonight. Real enjoyed their greatest success down the flanks, with Marcelo in particular proving a nuisance for much of the evening, and created their best chances through these avenues.

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Indeed, it was Atletico’s failure to clear back-to-back deliveries from the right that led to Ronaldo’s opener while Benzema came within inches of adding a second moments later as he leapt to meet Marcelo’s whipped cross with an overhead bicycle kick. Real repeatedly exploited Atletico’s weakness all night long, with the second and third similarly coming through the flanks. Usually so assured in defence, the visiting backline will leave the Bernabeu with plenty of questions to answer in the coming days.