Player of Week 14: Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick in Real Madrid’s 3-0 win over Celta Vigo on Saturday was his fourth treble of the season and sent records tumbling at the Santiago Bernabeu. While taking his tally for the season to 575 Euro Fantasy League points, his latest treble was Ronaldo’s 23rd in La Liga as both Los Blancos and the man from Funchal rewrote the record books.

Ronaldo owed his first goal against Celta to a dubious penalty, won by the striker himself. There was more than a hint of a dive as the Portuguese went easily to ground following minimal contact from defender Jonathan Castro, but Ronaldo made no mistake with the spot kick as the visiting players vented their protests to the referee.

Two more goals in the second half – a right-footed shot fired past the goalkeeper and a neat finish from Marcelo’s cross nine minutes from time – saw Ronaldo pass 200 Primera goals for Madrid, an even more impressive record given that he only arrived at the Bernabeu five years ago.

The Portugal skipper has now registered more hat-tricks in the Spanish top flight than both Telmo Zarra and Alfredo di Stefano, while this season he has scored 23 goals in just 14 games in La Liga, having posted trebles against Deportivo La Coruna, Elche and Athletic Bilbao.

Breaking their own club record of 16 successive victories at Malaga the previous weekend, Carlo Ancelotti’s side have now equalled the all-time record by a Spanish team of 18 successive wins, set by Frank Rijkaard’s Barcelona side in 2005 and 2006. Victory against Bulgarian side Ludogorets in the Champions League on Tuesday would see them set a new milestone.

The 10-time European Champions are on an amazing run, made all the more astonishing after their poor start to the season. Losing the Spanish Supercopa to Atletico Madrid and suffering two defeats in their opening three Primera matches was hardly the ideal beginning.

Although far from being a one-man team, Ronaldo has been key to Los Blancos’ success. His previous five games against Celta had yielded nine goals for the Portuguese, who could have hurt them even more on Saturday after he failed to convert two early chances.

Even by his own remarkable standards, the current campaign is already proving by far Ronaldo’s most prolific. He seems destined to overhaul Lionel Messi’s record of 50 goals in a single season in La Liga. The Argentine’s remarkable tally of 73 in all competitions in 2011-12 could also be in his sights alongside the Barcelona man’s 74 Champions League strikes.

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La Liga - Club News