Cristiano Ronaldo scored his third hat-trick in four La Liga matches as Real Madrid smashed Athletic Bilbao 5-0 on Sunday.

The Portugal international had trained alone in the
build-up to the match due to the problem suffered
in Wednesday's Champions League victory over
Ludogorets, but he showed no ill effects to take
his tally to 13 goals in six La Liga games so far
this season.
It took just two minutes for Ronaldo to open the
scoring with a close-range header and, after Karim
Benzema had converted for the second, the Fifa
Ballon d'Or winner was again on hand to finish off
a crisp attacking move early in the second half.
Ronaldo was at the heart of Real's fourth goal,
too, as he selflessly rolled the ball into the path of
Benzema to give the Frenchman a second of the
match on 69 minutes.
But, predictably, there was only ever likely to be
one man who stole the headlines as Ronaldo
scored his third - albeit controversially with the
aid of his arm - in the 89th minute to add to a
treble against Deportivo La Coruna and a four-goal
haul in a rout of Elche, all in just over a fortnight.
In netting his 22nd Liga hat-trick, Ronaldo also
equalled the Spanish top-flight record held jointly
by Telmo Zarra and Alfredo Di Stefano.
Real's fourth successive league win lifts them up
to fourth in the table, while Athletic's winless run
was extended to seven games in all competitions
as pressure begins to build on coach Ernesto
Valverde.
The Basque club have not won a competitive game
since the end of August and remain in the bottom
three after this defeat.Both sides made a handful
of changes from their Champions League exploits
in midweek, with the hosts welcoming Pepe back
to the heart of their defence in place of Raphael
Varane.
Athletic, who were beaten by BATE on Tuesday,
found themselves behind before they could settle
into any sort of rhythm as Ronaldo opened the
scoring in just the second minute.
Gareth Bale lifted a cross to the back post from
the edge of the penalty area for the Portugal
international to register his 11th league goal of the
season with a powerful header.
Madrid's pace in attack continued to cause Bilbao
plenty of problems and Ronaldo saw a low shot
well saved by Gorka Iraizoz prior to Benzema
failing to convert two good crosses from Bale.
Having spent the opening 20 minutes chasing
shadows, the visitors slowly began to settle into
the game, but only Iker Muniain's 23rd-minute
strike tested Iker Casillas, the goalkeeper easily
tipping over a dipping effort.
Madrid continued to pose the greater threat and,
after Ronaldo had seen another chance well saved
by Iraizoz, they doubled their lead through
Benzema, the striker rising to meet a right-wing
corner with a powerful downward header.
Four minutes after the break, Bale was presented a
chance to extend their lead even further but the
25-year-old, under pressure from Aymeric Laporte,
blazed over at the end of a flowing Madrid move.
They did not have to wait long for the third goal,
though, as Bale was released by Benzema before
laying the ball on for Ronaldo to tap home his
second.
The visitors were barely seeing anything of the
ball and with 20 minutes to play they were further
behind as Ronaldo raced clear before rolling a pass
to Benzema, who applied the simplest of finishes.
Iraizoz's goal remained under threat despite Real's
big lead and the goalkeeper made good saves from
Ronaldo and Bale in the closing minutes.
Ronaldo's attempts to get his hat-trick saw Iraizoz
punch clear a free kick in the closing minutes but
the attacker's moment finally arrived when he
deflected a Pepe shot into the back of the net with
a minute to go, although replays showed the ball
may have come off his elbow.