ZINEDINE ZIDANE hailed hat-trick hero Cristiano Ronaldo as the dead-cert winner of the Fifa Ballon D’Or after Real Madrid thrashed Atletico.
Ron hit all three as Real stretched their lead at the top of La Liga to four points from second-placed Barcelona and left Diego Simeone’s Atletico a whopping nine points adrift in fifth spot.
Zidane said: “I don’t see any doubt. Not for the three goals he scored tonight. He’s a player the whole of last season showed he was above the whole world. His hat-trick tonight puts everyone in agreement. We win 3-0 here and he scores all three. There’s no debate. In any case the Ballon D’Or will be for him.”
Ronaldo, 31, won the Champions League with Real and Euro 2016 with Portugal which has put him in pole position in his annual duel with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.
It was the second time Ron netted a hat-trick here at the Calderon after his treble in Real’s 4-1 win here when Jose Mourinho was boss in the 2011-2 season.
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And Zidane raved about his side who stretched their unbeaten run to 29 matches in all competitions.
He said: “We played an enormous game from the start against a great rival. We went in strong from the start. I’m happy with what we did. It’s not easy. Few teams can win 3-0 here.
“It’s not easy. We were phenomenal in the first 45 minutes. We came under pressure in the second half. But we worked exceptionally well, lost very few balls. We had the necessary intensity against a complicated rival.
Atletico coach Simeone said: “The penalty put us out of the game. In the first half they were better, and had more chances.
In the first 20 minutes of the second half we were better and controlled the game but that penalty cut us off. We must improve and we must find solutions.”
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