RONALDO BACK TO HIS BEST
Real star sends warning to PSG by hitting three past Sociedad
CRISTIANO Ronaldo bagged a hat-trick as Real Madrid warmed up for their Champions League showdown with Paris Saint Germain with a big 5-2 victory over Real Sociedad in La Liga on Saturday.
Zinedine Zidane’s men have not scaled their usual heights this season and this was still not perfect, but they do look to be finding some form just in time for a potentially season-defining tie with PSG on Wednesday.
They blew Sociedad apart in the first half at the Santiago Bernabeu, taking the lead inside a minute through Lucas Vazquez and finding themselves four goals ahead by the interval.
Toni Kroos got Real’s other goal, as they made it three wins and a draw from their last four La Liga games, with 18 goals scored in that time.
The defensive lapses that allowed the visitors to pull two goals back late on will be a concern for Zidane, but Ronaldo’s return to form is a huge boost.
“He always has that mindset. He lives for that, for scoring goals, and today he showed with his three goals that you need to watch out for him,” Zidane said.
“He could have scored one or two more, and it augurs well for Wednesday.”
Real are still a huge 16 points behind unbeaten league leaders Barcelona, but they are now back up to third above Valencia, who played Levante late yesterday.
The quickest goal on Saturday was not scored by Real, but by Antoine Griezmann, who needed only 39 seconds to find the net in Atletico Madrid’s 1-0 win at bottom side Malaga that left them just six points off top spot.
The French striker fired home his eighth league goal of the campaign from inside the box after a Saul Niguez shot was deflected into his path.
It was Atletico’s eighth victory by a 1-0 margin in La Liga this season and put some pressure back on Barcelona, although they could again move nine points clear at the top by beating Getafe at the Nou Camp in a late match yesterday.
“We knew it was going to be difficult, but these are the kind of games we enjoy playing,” Griezmann told beIN Sports.
“Now we need to keep fighting and trying to win all the games we have left, and then we’ll see,” added the Frenchman.
Elsewhere, Villarreal lost more ground in their quest for a topfour finish as they lost 2-1 at home to improving Alaves while Ivan Ramis scored in stoppagetime to give surprise package Eibar a 1-0 victory at Leganes that leaves them sixth.