LONDON: Cristiano Ronaldo netted his 27th career hat-trick and Gareth Bale and Javier Hernandez added braces as Real Madrid emphatically ended their two-game losing skid in La Liga with a 8-2 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.

In the first high-profile match-up of the Serie A season, Juventus striker Carlos Tevez struck to hand the champions a precious 1-0 win over AC Milan, and coach Massimiliano Allegri a winning return to San Siro where he was shown the door eight months ago.

Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, though, were held to a goalless draw by struggling Hamburg SV in Josef Zinnbauer’s debut as coach while Andre-Pierre Gignac scored a double to put Olympique Marseille top of Ligue 1 for the first time this season with a 3-0 win over Rennes.

RONALDO TREBLE

Portugal captain Ronaldo, the World Player of the Year, scored his first two goals on either side of James Rodriguez’s superb long strike to decide the match at the Riazor.

Depor did manage to pull one back when Haris Medunjanin converted from the penalty spot but Bale struck twice in the final 25 minutes before Ronaldo rounded off his hat-trick to ensure Real bounced back in style after suffering consecutive defeats to Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid in their last two league outings.

Toche headed home a late consolation for the hosts, but Javier Hernandez volleyed home his first two goals for the club since joining on loan from Manchester United as Real climbed to sixth in the table on six points from four games.

“The game was defined by the skill and quality we have up front and how clinical we were with the chances we had,” said Real boss Carlo Ancelotti.

“We showed the quality we have. We have a phenomenon in Ronaldo and we have other players with great quality. They combined very well together and that was the best thing we can take from the game.”

It was a more frustrating night in the capital for champions Atletico as they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Celta Vigo.

Granada continued their fine start with a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao to move up to third on eight points from four games, the same record as second-placed Atletico. Those two sides are one point behind leaders Barcelona who have a game in hand.

Also, Sergio “Duda” Barbosa scored a free kick in stoppage time to secure Malaga’s 2-2 draw at Espanyol.

TEVEZ STRIKES

In the 71st minute at a packed-out San Siro, Tevez played an exquisite one-two with Paul Pogba before expertly chipping the ball past Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati as Juve provisionally moved three points clear atop Serie A.

“I think we did well and played a good match,” Tevez told touchline reporters. “I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do much because Nigel de Jong was following me everywhere, but the goal arrived and I’m very happy.”

The victory gave new Juve manager Allegri a measure of revenge against the club that fired him in January. “After three-and-a-half years at Milan this couldn’t be a normal match. But it’s absolutely not revenge,” Allegri said. “Milan was an important step for me in my career. ... But now we’ve got to focus only on Juventus.”

Milan, who had won their first two games under new coach Filippo Inzaghi, rarely threatened Gianluigi Buffon in the Juventus goal and are in third place level on six points with AS Roma who have a game in hand.

In Saturday’s other game, Empoli fought back from two goals behind to draw 2-2 at Cesena in a meeting of two promoted sides.

PADERBORN TOP

Promoted Paderborn went top of the Bundesliga helped by Moritz Stoppelkamp’s extraordinary 83-metre goal at Hanover 96.

Elias Kachunga scored in the 71st minute and Stoppelkamp added his memorable long-range strike in the third minute of injury time in a 2-0 win which took Paderborn to eight points and top spot.

Hanover, trailing to Kachunga’s goal, won a free kick in the Paderborn half deep into stoppage time and goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler went up to join the attack as they threw everything forward.

Paderborn cleared the ball which fell to Stoppelkamp on the edge of his own area. Facing his own goal, he chested it down, turned and thumped it down the pitch into the unguarded goal, the ball landing just inside the Hanover half and bouncing six times before it trickled into the net.

Bayern also have eight points from four games but are sitting fourth behind Paderborn, Mainz 05 and Hoffenheim on goal difference after Pep Guardiola’s side were unable to get the better of Hamburg.

Mainz defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-0 while Hoffenheim won 2-0 at VfB Stuttgart.

Elsewhere, Schalke 04 drew 2-2 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt and Augsburg beat Werder Bremen 4-2.

GIGNAC DOUBLE

Ligue 1’s top scorer Gignac opened the scoring at the Velodrome Stadium with a spectacular scissors-kick in the 50th minute before doubling Marseille’s lead with a well-taken shot from the edge of the box past Rennes goalkeeper Benoit Costil in the 63rd.

Romain Alessandrini sealed Marseille’s fourth straight win in added time with a superb free kick as they moved to 13 points after six games, level with Bordeaux but with a better goal difference.

Nantes moved up to fifth place, three points behind Marseille, after beating Nice 2-1 thanks to first-half goals from Senegalese midfielder Papy Djilobodji and Israeli striker Itay Shechter.

Making his debut for Metz, former France international Florent Malouda showed flashes of his heyday as the newly promoted side beat Bastia 3-1 to go up to ninth.

Toulouse drew 3-3 at home with Caen, and Reims posted their first away win, beating Lorient 1-0 courtesy of Benjamin Moukandjo’s winner.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd , 2014