Cristiano Ronaldo closing in on Real Madrid’s all-time goalscoring record

Andy West 21:38 06/04/2015
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  • On the brink of history: Cristiano Ronaldo (L) is eight goals away from breaking Alfredo Di Stefano's (R) record.

    Cristiano Ronaldo is closing in on the legendary Alfredo Di Stefano for second place in Real Madrid’s all-time goalscoring list after his five-goal demolition of Granada on Sunday.

    Following a moderate start to 2015 which last week saw him rated as only the 29th best forward in Europe by a statistical study, Ronaldo roared back to his best with an eight-minute hat-trick towards the end of the opening period, adding a pair of second-half headers to complete his team’s astonishing 9-1 victory.

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    It was the first five-goal haul of Ronaldo’s career and saw him set a number of statistical milestones, notably by becoming only the third player in Real Madrid history – along Di Stefano and Raul – to reach 300 goals for the club.

    Ronaldo reached his triple century in just 287 games and should soon overtake the late Di Stefano, who registered 308 goals, as the Spanish giant’s second-highest goalscorer, while leader Raul’s total of 323 is likely to be surpassed in the early stages of next season.

    The first-half treble also saw Ronaldo move level with Di Stefano at the top of another statistical category – the most hat-tricks scored for the Bernabeu club, 28.

    And it meant Ronaldo is back on level terms with deadly personal rival Lionel Messi for the most hat-tricks scored in La Liga with 24 each, two clear of Di Stefano and former Athletic Bilbao star Telmo Zarra.

    Fellow frontman Karim Benzema was full of praise for his teammate, enthusing: “Cristiano is a phenomenon. He is always on the look-out for goals and ways of helping the team.

    “He deserves everything he has achieved.”

    Ronaldo wasn’t the only member of Los Blancos ‘BBC’ forward line to shine, with Benzema also scoring twice after Gareth Bale had opened the floodgates with a well-taken strike.

    Benzema’s brace came in the space of five minutes early in the second half as Granada’s sleepy defence allowed him to control a corner and volley home before again finding plenty of space inside the penalty area to record his second.

    And the Frenchman, whose goals ended a four-game barren run in La Liga, was forceful in his message that Madrid’s front three will continue to deliver for the team.

    “We are all in good form,” he asserted. “We are helping the team, sometimes we score and sometimes we don’t, but we are in good shape to continue like this until the end of the season.”

    The victory over woeful Granada could have been by an even bigger margin, with Los Blancos mustering an incredible 30 efforts on goal, including no less than 13 by Ronaldo alone.

    And Benzema was understandably happy with his team’s firepower, adding: “The most important thing is winning the game.

    “After that we can look at our nine goals, which is something that doesn’t happen very often.

    “We scored a lot of goals and created a hatful of chances. We attacked and defended effectively and everyone played well. We were in full flow for the fans.”

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