They could not do it though as Jese missed a chance late on and Isco tried to lob the goalkeeper with the last kick of the match. Benzema stood right behind him in the score sheet, scoring a hat-trick and his 5th goal in the last two games for the Merengues.
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After the break, Cristiano went crackers.
Ronaldo’s four-goal haul took his tally to 11 goals in six games thus far, becoming the only player to reach double figures in the group stages in Champions League history, as Benitez showered the Portuguese superstar with praise. Nice one… I have contract at Real Madrid and I will stay here.
The top two positions in the group have already been decided with Real Madrid heading through to the last 16 as winners ahead of Paris Saint-Germain due to their better head-to-head record.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored four times, while Karim Benzema added three to lead Real Madrid to an 8-0 beating of Swedish club Malmo on Tuesday.
There was still time for Ronaldo to blast the ball over from an unmarked position near the penalty spot but he well and truly found his shooting boots in the second half.
At the the Volkswagen Arena, Anthony Martial put United ahead on ten minutes yet Naldo quickly equalised and Vieirinha finished off a brilliant team move just before the half-hour in Group B.
Real advanced with 16 points and PSG with 13. To qualify in first place, City also needed Juventus to lose in Sevilla and last season’s runner-up was beaten 1-0.
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the team’s sixth goal, his fourth, against Malmo on Tuesday in the Champions League.
“The fans express themselves as they want but the boss is doing a good job, he is adapting to Real Madrid and I think we have to give him time because in my opinion he is doing things well”.
CSKA was already out of contention for the next round, but could have secured a Europa League berth with a win in Eindhoven.
In a dramatic end to a pulsating encounter in Germany, United were set to reach the next round when an own goal by Josuha Guilavogui levelled the scores at 2-2 with eight minutes left.
Galatasaray was held to 1-1 at home by Astana in the other Group C match.
Sevilla secured a berth in the Europa League as Fernando Llorente scored against his former team.
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Madrid punched its ticket to the round of 16 in November.
