The former Man United man steered Los Blancos to a dominant win over their city rivals, netting a goal in the 10th minute before adding two strikes late in the second half.
His performances during the group stage of this year’s competition led many to question whether age was finally catching up with the Portuguese forward, scoring just twice in six games.
But after netting his eighth in five games during the knockout stages of the tournament, questions about his diminishing ability have been emphatically answered
Even so, the four-time Ballon D’or winner was forced to plead with the Bernabeu crowd to stop jeering him during Madrid’s demolition of Atletico last night.
Cameras picked up the 32-year-old celebrating his hat-trick goal before gesturing at the crowd to stop whistling and start applauding.
In 2015, Ronaldo overtook Raul to become the club’s all-time record goalscorer.
His jaw-dropping tally currently stands at 399 goals in just 389 games.
A memorable hat-trick – his seventh in the competition after back-to-back hauls against Bayern and Atletico – leaves Diego Simeone’s side needing a miracle in the return leg if they are to have any hope of reaching the Champions League final for a third time in four years.
