La Liga fate is in our own hands, says Ronaldo

A Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick fired Real Madrid to a 4-1 derby win at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday to restore their four-point cushion on Barcelona at the top of the Primera Liga.u00a0Ronaldo opened after 25 minutes with Gustavo Falcao getting the equaliser for Atletico after 55 minutes before the Portuguese star wrapped up his hat-trick to make it 40 league goals for the season, one more than Lionel Messi. Jose Callejon got the other goal for La Liga leaders.u00a0

Real Madrid's Ronaldo lines up a shot against Atletico Madrid's Tiago Mendes on Wednesday. Pic/AFP

Barcelona had moved to within a point of Real on Tuesday after a 4-0 win over Getafe, with six games now left including a meeting between the top two on April 21.u00a0"After Barca's win yesterday (Tuesday) there was a bit of pressure, but we're happy with that and we have to look to win the rest of our games," said Ronaldo.u00a0The game started off at a fast pace with both teams keen to attack from the off and it was Atletico, looking for their first derby win since 1999, who enjoyed the better early chances.

Brazilian playmaker Diego supplied Falcao whose shot was parried away by Iker Casillas in the Real goal on nine minutes and ten minutes later the Colombian was millimetres from connecting at close range to a Gabi Fernandez free-kick.u00a0Real were struggling to make any impact when in the 25th minute Ronaldo stepped up to hit a free-kick from around 30 yards.u00a0Thibaut Courtois in the Atletico goal did not react at all to the bending, dipping shot and could only watch as it nestled to his left in the corner of his net.u00a0