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.
Ronaldo added two more after the break.
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 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, 30, now has two other prestigious records in his sights. One involves his rival Lionel Messi.
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
