Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo Looking for Record-Tying 22nd La Liga Hat-Trick

Heading into Saturday's match against Villareal, Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo needs just one more hat-trick to tie the all-time La Liga record of 22, held jointly by Alfredo Di Stefano and Telmo Zarra, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Ronaldo has an incredible seven goals in his last two La Liga appearances, having tallied four in Tuesday's 5-1 victory against over-matched Elche, after a three-goal showing in Saturday's 8-2 win over Deportivo La Coruna.

In addition to the consecutive hat-tricks, the reigning FIFA Ballon d'Or winner has nine of his club's 16 goals through the first four matches of the La Liga campaign, with another goal in Madrid's lone Champions League match, a 5-1 drubbing of FC Basel.

The last of Ronaldo's four goals in Tuesday's match against Elche marked No. 186 of his La Liga career, tying Real Madrid legend Carlos Santillana for third-most league goals in club history, per ESPN Stats & Info.

At the pace he's going, Ronaldo could make a run at the club record of 218 career league goals—held by Raul—before the end of this season. Di Stefano's 216 are good for second place in Real Madrid's history.

Ronaldo sits 32 shy of the record with 34 matches to play, having scored 31 goals in 31 league matches last season. He was even more productive in 2012-13, when he notched 34 goals in just 30 league appearances.

As for the hat-tricks, Ronaldo will likely tie and surpass both Di Stefano and Zarra by the end of the season. Meanwhile, FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi, now in his 11th La Liga season, ranks fourth in league history with just 19 hat-tricks, per ESPN Datos.

However, Messi is closing in on an even more prestigious mark, with his 246 La Liga goals just five shy of Zarra's 251 for the all-time record.

Ronaldo may one day catch up to his Barcelona counterpart, as the Portugese forward has an incredible 186 goals through 169 La Liga appearances, good for 1.1 per game. Messi has required 282 matches for his 246 goals, which works out to a somewhat more modest 0.87 per game.