Still a long way to go before Real Madrid's won anything, says Zidane

Zinedine Zidane lavished praise on his side in the aftermath of Tuesday's 3-0 destruction of Atletico in the latest all-Madrid Champions League encounter.

Real procured the impressive result through another hat-trick from talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, and while Zidane singled out the prolific Portuguese for praise, he also applauded the performance of the entire side after the comfortable triumph put Los Blancos on the brink of the tournament final for a third time in four seasons.

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"We played a great game," Zidane told reporters. "It is not easy to score three goals tonight. We played a fantastic first 30 minutes, had many chances for a second goal, but we did it in the second half.

"So we can be very happy with the game, the three goals, and above all to keep a clean sheet at home as that is so important in a two-legged tie. I don't know if it is our best game, but it was a great performance."

Despite his enthusiasm, however, the French tactician urged caution. The job isn't done just yet, after all.

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"Today we can be happy and enjoy what we did," he said. "But we still have a long way to go, in the Champions League and in La Liga too. We have not won anything yet, and I do not believe we will get too carried away.

"There are no easy games in football. We know that we must play another perfect game there to go through in the tie."