This is what Cristiano Ronaldo’s decline looks like?
Ronaldo scored five goals Saturday in Real Madrid’s 6-0 win over Espanyol in La Liga (Spain’s first division). Ronaldo passed Raul to become Real Madrid’s all-time leading goal scorer in La Liga and reminded the soccer world he hasn’t finished raising his game to new heights.
We figured something special might happen when Ronaldo notched a hat trick in the first 20 minutes of the game.
Goal drought? What goal drought! @Cristiano scores first of the year. @realmadrid go up 1-0. #LaLiga http://t.co/nPTOJyb8Gw
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) September 12, 2015
That's two for @Cristiano in just over a quarter of an hour. Here comes @realmadrid. #LaLiga http://t.co/r54WOZhNT4
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) September 12, 2015
.@Cristiano on FIRE. That's a hat-trick in inside of 20 minutes. 3-0 @realmadrid. #LaLiga http://t.co/F1R6jm2s1s
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) September 12, 2015
Ronaldo added two more after the break.
.@Cristiano losing his touch! It took him 15 minutes to score his first in 2nd half. 5-0 @realmadrid. #LaLiga http://t.co/lh6O3Sjjp8
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) September 12, 2015
Can you SAY FIVE GOALS!!! @Cristiano CAN! 0-6 @realmadrid. #LaLiga http://t.co/LEExbq5BPQ
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) September 12, 2015
https://twitter.com/Squawka/status/642729653099212800
Some players don’t score five goals in their entire careers, let alone in one game. Ronaldo has done so twice in 2015, adding Saturday’s feat to his previous outburst against Granada in April.
Ronaldo is only the second player to score five away from home in consecutive seasons (Telmo Zarra, 1943) #UCL
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 12, 2015
Ronaldo now has scored 230 goals in La Liga. He passed Raul’s mark in the 61st minute and needed far fewer games than his Spanish counterpart to make history.
Ronaldo scores his 229th Liga goal for @realmadriden, overtaking Raúl's record #UCL pic.twitter.com/7wkrlVFECU
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 12, 2015
https://twitter.com/BBCSporf/status/642721132437745664
Ronaldo, 30, now has two other prestigious records in his sights. One involves his rival Lionel Messi.
ALL TIME RECORD – Cristiano ties Messi for most hat-tricks (32) in official matches in Spanish football history
— MisterChip (English) (@MisterChiping) September 12, 2015
Most goals in all competitions for Real Madrid:
Raúl (323)
Cristiano Ronaldo (320)
Alfredo Di Stéfano (307) pic.twitter.com/yawYGUK3h8— Squawka (@Squawka) September 12, 2015
Ronaldo’s goals were his first of the 2015-16 season. Some wondered aloud whether Ronaldo’s best days were in the past after he failed to score in Real Madrid’s first two games of the new campaign.
So much for that nonsense.
Thumbnail photo via Manu Fernandez/The Associated Press
