Ronaldo's perfect treble a warning to PSG
Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a perfect hat-trick as Real Madrid easily accounted for Real Sociedad in LaLiga, winning 5-2 and effectively wrapping the game up before half-time.
Cristiano Ronaldo hit top form ahead of Real Madrid's UEFA Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain, scoring the first perfect hat-trick of the LaLiga season in a 5-2 thumping of Real Sociedad.
Ronaldo provided the assist for Lucas Vazquez's first-minute goal in a comfortable victory at Santiago Bernabeu, before going on to score his first Madrid treble of the campaign.
The Portugal superstar tucked away Marcelo's cutback with a firm right-footed finish to add Madrid's second and he was on target again before the break by heading in Luka Modric's right-wing corner.
With Zinedine Zidane leaving his talismanic forward on for the full 90 minutes despite the looming clash with PSG, he wrapped up his hat-trick with 10 minutes to go.
Sociedad goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli spilled a Gareth Bale shot, allowing Ronaldo to collect the loose ball and slot into the open goal with his left foot.
Madrid had only won one of its past five home games in all competitions but Sociedad made for an ideal opponent, losing at Santiago Bernabeu for the ninth time in a row.
Lucas Vazquez has made more Madrid appearances than any other player under Zinedine Zidane and he scored the opener in the first minute, heading in Ronaldo's cross.
Ronaldo first two goals were punctuated by a sublime Toni Kroos strike, the German picking out the top-right corner with a wonderful shot, and then his Portuguese team-mate completed the rout.
The one black mark for the home side was again the form of striker Karim Benzema, who was roundly jeered by the home support after sending a perfect Bale centre over the bar from inside the six-yard box with what was the last kick of the match.
Zidane rested Casemiro and Bale with an eye on a blockbuster clash with PSG and took Luka Modric off for the last half-hour, Madrid rarely needing to exert itself against a poor Sociedad outfit, although the visitors scored consolations through Jon Bautista and Asier Illarramendi, either side of Ronaldo's third in the second half.
The LaLiga holder move above Valencia into third after the win, but is 16 points behind leader and rival Barcelona, leaving the UEFA Champions League as the club's main focus.
Madrid took the lead after 49 seconds, its fastest goal of the season, with Vazquez directing a terrific header home to find the net for the first time in five months in LaLiga.
Ronaldo took advantage of a fortunate deflection to bamboozle Aritz Elustondo on the left wing, the Portugal star standing up a fine cross which Vazquez flicked beyond Rulli.
Madrid came close to scoring a second in the seventh minute, Rulli getting enough on Karim Benzema's poked finish to turn the ball on to the post after Marcelo burst into the box.
Marcelo was involved again as Madrid extended their lead in the 27th minute, raiding down the left from Marco Asensio's pass and providing a low cross for Ronaldo to slam home.
Ronaldo, unmarked again, volleyed against the post but two more goals came before the break.
Vazquez teed up Kroos for a sweet 20-yard strike into the top-right corner and Modric then delivered a perfect right-wing corner for Ronaldo to nod in the fourth.
La Real thumped Deportivo La Coruna 5-0 in their last match but took 51 minutes to record their first shot, a Juanmi header clipping the outside of the post.
Madrid understandably eased off ahead of a season-defining meeting with PSG, Zidane replacing Vazquez and Modric with Mateo Kovacic and Isco, and former Los Blancos player Illarramendi sent a free-kick narrowly over the crossbar.
Sociedad got on the scoresheet in the 74th minute, Mikel Oyarzabal setting up Bautista to slot past Keylor Navas, and Illarramendi took advantage of sloppy defending to add its second.
But Madrid could hardly have had an easier workout ahead of facing Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and the rest, with Rulli spilling a shot from substitute Bale at the feet of Ronaldo, who gratefully tucked away the loose ball for his first club hat-trick of the campaign.
