Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo is on pace to break one of Real Madrid’s most sacred of records. His four goals on Saturday against Sevilla took his season total to 33 in 31 La Liga matches; five shy of the club record 38 goals scored by Hugo Sanchez in 1989/90.

Top scorer on the team and top scorer in La Liga, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 33 goals in 31 matches so far this season. Twenty-one seasons ago, Hugo Sanchez had scored 35 goals by Week 35 of the competition

Of the three matches left to play in 1989/90, Hugo Sanchez needed only one to equal the mark set by Telmo Zarra to become the club’s top scorer in one league campaign. The Mexican striker missed the match against Osasuna and was unable to score against Atletico, but in the final match of the season knocked in a hat-trick against Oviedo at the Bernabeu.

Three matches are all that remain this year as well. Real Madrid host Getafe on Tuesday, then visit Villarreal the following weekend and close out the season by welcoming Almeria to town. Three important matches against teams that Cristiano has enjoyed previous success against. Getafe have conceded two braces to the Portuguese, Almeria have given up two goals in thee matches and Villarreal have conceded five.

This season alone, Ronaldo has scored three hat-tricks (Athletic, Malaga and Villarreal) and six braces (Getafe, Hercules, Malaga, Deportivo, Real Sociedad and Valencia). What is even more astounding though is that Cristiano has twice this season scored four goals in a single match (Racing and Sevilla); a milestone he had never accomplished prior to this year.