Ronaldo breaks another record as Madrid crush Eibar

Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to hit 30 La Liga goals in six consecutive seasons as he inspired Real Madrid to a 4-0 thrashing of Eibar on Saturday.

The Portugal forward netted in the 19th minute and also provided passes for Lucas Vazquez and Jese to score as the hosts stormed into a 4-0 halftime lead.

James Rodriguez had opened Real’s account with a curling free kick in the fifth minute.

Real are second in the league on 72 points, with title rivals Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in action later on Saturday.

Coach Zinedine Zidane made eight changes to the team that suffered a shock 2-0 defeat at VfL Wolfsburg in the Champions League in midweek with only Ronaldo, Pepe and Casemiro keeping their places.

Brazilian right back Danilo was booed by the home fans for his disappointing display at Wolfsburg when he came on in the second half but it was an otherwise positive afternoon for Real who host Wolfsburg in their quarter-final second leg on Tuesday.

Rodriguez was criticised for being caught laughing on the sidelines in Germany in midweek but the Colombia international lifted the crowd by scoring early on, his first goal in just under two months.

A fine piece of skill from Ronaldo allowed Vazquez to pass the ball into an empty net in the 18th minute before the record-breaker finished off a cut-back from the lively Jese a minute later.

Ronaldo returned the favour for the 23-year-old in the 39th minute as Real made it 4-0.

Eibar’s top scorer Borja Baston hit the crossbar in a rare attack for the visitors who are 10th in the table.