Cristiano Ronaldo Shows How Vital He Is as Real Madrid Run Riot at Deportivo

Cristiano Ronaldo notched a hat-trick as Real Madrid provided a display of awesome offensive strength in a comprehensive 8-2 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.

Madrid have often found the Riazor a difficult place to go. Prior to Saturday’s match, J.I. Garcia-Ochoa of Marca noted that they had managed just two wins and five draws in their last 20 visits to La Coruna.

Deportivo led the Primera Division in yellow cards and fouls committed coming into the fixture, as per J.L. Guerrero of AS, and were expected to provide Carlo Ancelotti’s side with a stiff test.

Furthermore, according to H. Cerezo and L.A. Diaz of Marca, Ronaldo had never previously scored at the stadium.

Yet despite a few tricky moments, Madrid emerged as comfortable victors thanks to Ronaldo's three goals, doubles from Gareth Bale and substitute Javier Hernandez and a superb strike from Rodriguez.

Ronaldo has barely been out of the press over the last couple of weeks, with reports continuing to link him with a return to Manchester United. Bleacher Report columnist Guillem Balague even went as far as saying on Sky Sports' Revista de La Liga show that “everything is in place for him to return to Old Trafford.”

Others, including former Madrid president Ramon Calderon on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show, indicated that Ronaldo was unhappy in Madrid—particularly following the summer sales of Angel Di Maria and Xabi Alonso.

But there was little sign of that at the Riazor on Saturday, as Ronaldo showed how vital he is to the Madrid attack with three well-taken goals.

It was Ronaldo who gave Madrid the lead, leaping high to aim a superb looping header into the back of the net from Alvaro Arbeloa’s flighted cross.

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He watched on as Rodriguez doubled their advantage with a truly magnificent finish into the top corner from the outside of the area and then notched his second of the match before half-time after Karim Benzema had partially rounded the suicidally advanced Deportivo goalkeeper German Lux.

Benzema has been one of the targets for the Bernabeu boo-boys in recent weeks, but on the back of a superb goal in the midweek win over Basel, he produced another excellent performance. His movement and link-up play were key in creating space for Ronaldo to work in.

Ancelotti brought Benzema off early in the second half, replacing him with defensive midfielder Asier Illarramendi. The change helped Madrid weather a strong start to the half from their hosts, and they soon set about adding to their advantage.

Bale aimed a nice low effort into the far corner off Marcelo’s pass and then produced a lovely clipped finish to convert a neat through-ball from Isco.

Ronaldo then completed his hat-trick, receiving the ball from Rodriguez and finishing left-footed past Lux.

Hernandez emerged from the bench to add a further couple of goals in the dying minutes—one an excellent left-foot strike into the top corner from a bouncing ball.

Madrid’s clinical finishing eventually blew away a Deportivo side who worked hard but lacked the quality to take advantage of some of the better situations they created for themselves.

The balance of the side still isn’t quite right. When Madrid drop their intensity, there are still gaps for opponents to exploit—as Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad did in their previous two league matches.

But on Tuesday against Basel and again on Saturday, Madrid were able to build up enough of a first-half cushion to guard against a second-half comeback. Having done so, there are few better teams at counter-attacking against advanced opponents.

Ronaldo is one of the most lethal players in world football when afforded space on the break, and he continues to be a central part of this Madrid attack, regardless of whether his long-term future lies with the club.

Ancelotti described his No. 7 as a “phenomenon” in his post-match press conference, as per Sport360.

There would be little better way to mark what could be his final season at the Bernabeu than by scoring the goals that lead Real Madrid to the four remaining trophies available to them this year.