CRISTIANO RONALDO SCORED an 11-minute hat-trick – and then added a fourth for good measure – as Real Madrid equalled the Champions League record with an 8-0 walloping of Malmo.
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His 11 Champions League goals have come in just four games against Shakhtar Donetsk and Malmo as he failed to find the net in two matches against PSG.
Madrid secured the biggest margin of victory in the Champions League since Liverpool also defeated Besiktas 8-0 in 2007.
It was Karim Benzema who put Real in command of the encounter at the Santiago Bernabeu, which served as the last in charge of Malmo for departing coach Age Hareide.
The beneficiary of more poor goalkeeping, Ronaldo’s 10th goal of the group stage came as his shot on the turn squeaked below the right arm of the unfortunate Wiland.
Despite his off-field problems and a hamstring injury that kept him sidelined for six weeks, Benzema is enjoying his best ever goalscoring start to a season with Madrid after 12 goals in just 13 appearances.
Benzema opened the scoring as early as the 12th minute and doubled his side’s tally 12 minutes later. His and the team’s second was a header after another well-placed cross by Ronaldo.
Ronaldo also put Madrid fans at ease by distancing himself from rumours linking him with a sensational transfer to Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season.
Adu and his Malmo side trekked the Spanish capital with hopes of upsetting Madrid in their own favour to secure a slot for the Europa League but things turned from bad to worse as the Spanish masters hammered them.
Raheem Sterling netted in the 80th and 81st minutes, and Wilfried Bony scored in the 85th to spark Manchester City’s late turnaround in a 4-2 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach.
With Juventus losing at Sevilla, the result was enough for City to leapfrog the Italians to the top of Group D while Gladbach slipped to the bottom of the table and dropped out of Europe this season.
Ultimately, Manchester United’s 3-2 defeat at Wolfsburg meant a draw would have been enough for PSV. The English club finished on eight points and have been relegated to the second-tier Europa League. Their opponent this Tuesday night wasn’t exactly the kind of opposition that the Merengues can expect to face in the next stage of the competition, but still, it’s not every night a team can score 8 goals in a Champions League game. “There were some setbacks in the beginning but now I’m more confident”.
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Group victor Atletico Madrid and Benfica advanced to the round of 16.
