Oops, he did it again. Cristiano Ronaldo netted yet another hat trick as he scored all three of his teams goals in a dominating 3-0 victory over Celta Vigo on Saturday. With the powerful performance, Ronaldo ascended to the upper echelon of La Liga’s elite and surpassed fellow Los Blancos legend, Alfredo Di Stefano and Athletic Bilbao’s Telmo Zarra.
Ronaldo netted his 23rd hat trick in Spain and his 200th La Liga goal overall. He eclipses the 200-goal mark in just his 178th game the fewest number of matches by any player who scored 200 goals in history. By comparison, it took Zarra 219 matches, and rival Lionel Messi 235 matches.
Ronaldo’s rise in Real Madrid to become the preeminent player of our time has been remarkable. His treble on Saturday gave him an astounding 23 goals on the season already, ten more than Messi. In the process, Ronaldo scored his 284th total goal of his career when you factor in the 84 goals he scored for Manchester United in the early portion of his career.
Ronaldo’s first goal of the match was a converted penalty kick. In the second half he took a bouncing ball off his foot and powered a superior volley into the right corner of the net. His third and final goal came in the 81st minute off of a Marcelo cross concluding his performance on the pitch.
“It is a real advantage to have Cristiano playing for us,” said Ronaldo’s manager, Carlo Ancelotti. “He is player really well and he is in peak physical condition, he is extraordinarily motivated at the moment.”
With the victory, Real Madrid has now won a Spanish league record, 18th consecutive game and will have the opportunity to set a new Spanish record on Tuesday against Ludogorets.
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