La Liga: Ronaldo two goals short of Raul’s record

Portugal captain can become Real’s all-time top-scorer against Granada

MADRID: Another piece of Real Madrid history awaits Cristiano Ronaldo as he can become the club’s all-time leading scorer when they host Granada at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.

Ronaldo is just two goals shy of Raul Gonzalez Blanco’s 323-goal record despite having played over 400 games fewer than the Spanish legend.

The World Player of the Year has struck eight times in his last two games to silence the critics for his slow start to the campaign as he failed to score in either of Madrid’s opening two La Liga fixtures or in two games for Portugal.

Ronaldo hit five goals in the same game for the second time in five months in a 6-0 rout at Espanyol last weekend and Granada will be fearing the worst as they were the previous recipients of a five-goal haul in a 9-1 humiliation back in April.

“I am happy, it is a proud moment for me to be in this position,” Ronaldo said after his hat-trick against Shakhtar saw him become the Champions League’s top goalscorer with 80 ahead of Lionel Messi. “I have to thank the team, they helped me a huge amount. My teammates believe in me, they give me the service with which I scored goals.”

The Portugal skipper also had a dig at his critics. “Before I was bad and now I am good because I have scored eight goals.”

Ronaldo will, though, be devoid of some of Madrid’s key creators with Gareth Bale having joined James Rodriguez on the sidelines due to injury. Bale suffered a calf injury in the 4-0 win over Shakhtar and will be sidelined for at least two weeks.

Victory can take Real to the top of the table as league leaders Barcelona aren’t in action till Sunday when they host Levante.

Atletico Madrid hoping to bounce back

Atletico Madrid lost their perfect start to the season when Barca won 2-1 at the Vicente Calderon last weekend, but Diego Simeone’s men recovered well to get their Champions League campaign off to a winning start at Galatasaray on Tuesday.

Los Rojiblancos now visit Eibar on Saturday hoping to end the Basque minnows unbeaten start to the start to the season.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th,  2015.

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