MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first hat-trick of the season as Real Madrid thrashed Real Sociedad 5-2 in La Liga on Saturday to warm up for their Champions League showdown with Paris St Germain in style.

Zinedine Zidane’s men have not scaled their usual heights this season and this was still not perfect, but they do look to be finding some form just in time for a potentially season-defining tie with the French side on Wednesday.

They blew Real Sociedad apart in the first half at the Santiago Bernabeu, taking the lead inside a minute through Lucas Vazquez and finding themselves four goals ahead by the interval.

Toni Kroos got Real’s other goal, as they made it three wins and a draw from their last four La Liga games, with 18 goals scored in that time.

The defensive lapses that allowed the visitors to pull two goals back late on will be a concern for Zidane, but Ronaldo’s return to form is a huge boost.

“He always has that mindset. He lives for that, for scoring goals, and today he showed with his three goals that you need to watch out for him,” Zidane said. “He could have scored one or two more, and it augurs well for Wednesday.”

Real have had a disappointing season and needed a strong performance before PSG’s visit in the last 16. The convincing win over Sociedad came after Real had won only two of their previous six league matches and suffered a humbling exit from the Copa del Rey to modest Leganes.

With La Liga leaders Barcelona still a massive 16 points ahead, Real’s only real chance to end the season with major silverware rests on becoming European champions for a third consecutive year.

“From the first moment, we played with intensity,” Real defender Sergio Ramos said. “I would be lying if I said we weren’t thinking about Wednesday’s match in the second half because our season is at stake against PSG. Our goal is to arrive in the best shape possible for Wednesday.”

Zidane rested Casemiro and Gareth Bale, but the Welsh winger’s replacement Vazquez took full advantage when he headed home Ronaldo’s cross after 49 seconds.

Marco Asensio and Marcelo combined superbly to set up Ronaldo to make it 2-0 before the half-hour mark, Kroos made it three with a trademark curling strike on his right foot from the edge of the area and Ronaldo headed home Luka Modric’s corner in a four-minute spell before the interval.

The Portuguese forward completed his treble after Geronimo Rulli beat away substitute Bale’s long-range effort. Jon Bautista and Asier Illaramendi netted consolation goals for Sociedad.

GRIEZMANN GOAL LIFTS ATLETICO

The quickest goal on Saturday was not scored by Real, but by Antoine Griezmann, who needed only 39 seconds to find the net in Atletico Madrid’s 1-0 win at bottom side Malaga that left them provisionally six points off top spot.

The French striker fired home his eighth league goal of the campaign from inside the box after a Saul Niguez shot was deflected into his path.

It was Atletico’s eighth victory by a 1-0 margin in La Liga this season and put some pressure back on Barca.

“We knew it was going to be difficult, but these are the kind of games we enjoy playing,” Griezmann told beIN Sports. “Now we need to keep fighting and trying to win all the games we have left, and then we’ll see,” added the Frenchman.

Alaves continued their good form under Abelardo, winning 2-1 at fifth-place Villarreal to climb to 16th and seven points above the relegation zone while Eibar moved sixth thanks to a 1-0 win at Leganes as Ivan Ramis scored deep into stoppage-time.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2018