Football: Ronaldo hat-trick seals Real’s win

MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldo hit a hat-trick as Real Madrid kept on the trail of leaders Barcelona with a 5-1 rout of Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday. While Barca have won all six of their opening games, Madrid made a stuttering start, but will now go into next weekend’s El Clasico with back-to-back wins and Ronaldo hitting form. “We know that it is going to be difficult against Barcelona and we are away from home, but we have to be concentrated and confident that we can win there. We will go out to win,” said Ronaldo. “We didn’t start with the right mentality against Deportivo but after we went 1-0 down we made a good comeback. We are doing okay but we know that we cannot afford to drop any more points.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2012.