Cristiano Ronaldo Breaks Champions League Group-Stage Goalscoring Record

Francisco Seco/Associated Press

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a stunning haul of four goals in an 8-0 victory against Malmo in the Champions League on Tuesday—and in doing so, he set a new record for most goals scored in the group stage of the competition with 11.

The 30-year-old opened the scoring with a dipping free-kick shortly before half-time, and after the restart, he converted three close-range chances with some typically deadly finishing. His third—the 10th of the group stage—was the record-breaker, per AS English.   

Ronaldo, who previously held the joint record of nine with Luiz Adriano of AC Milan, racked up the goals in quick succession, per Squawka Football and Bleacher Report UK:

Los Blancos joined in the celebrations on Twitter via their official account:

Fox Soccer and OptaJoe added further impressive context to his incredible haul:

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Football writer Liam Canning was full of praise for the forward:

Meanwhile, journalist Rik Sharma and writer Robin Bairner focused on whom Ronaldo's goals had come against:

After the match Ronaldo explained he does not go out of his way to break records, per AS English:

The superstar has had a strange season thus far, with several majestic performances in which he's racked up the majority of his goals and a number of anonymous showings in which he never looked likely to get on the scoresheet.

Nevertheless, the record remains a phenomenal achievement and a testament to his astounding ability to find the back of the net.