Take five: Ronaldo's Granada milestones
Monday, April 6, 2015
Article summary
Another weekend, another haul of records – UEFA.com's Richard Martin discovers that Cristiano Ronaldo's five goals against Granada CF included more landmark strikes.
Article top media content
Article body
Cristiano Ronaldo's exploits against Granada CF on Sunday contributed to Real Madrid CF's first nine-goal performance since 1967. They also added a few notable achievements to the 30-year-old's haul of records.
• It was the first time in his professional career that Ronaldo had scored five goals in a competitive game.
• He is the first player to score five in a match for Madrid since Fernando Morientes did so against UD Las Palmas in a 7-0 thrashing on 10 February 2002.
• His second goal moved him clear of Lionel Messi at the top of the Liga scoring charts – he has now registered 36 to Messi's 32 and is eight points clear of his only realistic rival for the ESM Golden Shoe.
• His first three goals came inside eight minutes – the fastest Liga hat-trick of the season and Ronaldo's quickest, too.
• Ronaldo's fifth of the afternoon was his 300th goal for the Merengues. Only Alfredo Di Stéfano and Rául González had previously reached that mark for Madrid.
• Ronaldo has also equalled Messi's record of 24 Liga hat-tricks.
• Emiliano Butragueño, former Madrid striker: "These five goals from Ronaldo demonstrate how great a player he is.”
• Karim Benzema, Madrid striker: "Ronaldo is a phenomenon. He always tries to help the team. I'm very happy for him – he deserves all of this."