Sunday hosted four matches in La Liga and wouldn’t you know it, Cristiano Ronaldo finds himself the star yet again.
Real Madrid 9-1 Granada
Yes you read that scoreline correctly. Real Madrid nearly put up double-digits in an absolute thrashing of Granada today. Out of those nine goals, Cristiano Ronaldo scored five, including a hat-trick in an eight minute span in the first half. Karim Benzema added a brace as Gareth Bale and an own goal from Granada rounded out the scoring for Madrid, as the club has scored an incredible 87 goals through 29 matches. Ronaldo has now scored 36 times on the season, more goals than 14 clubs in La Liga.
[ MORE: Ronaldo’s brilliance headlines Real’s domination of Granada ]
Celta de Vigo 0-1 Barcelona
Celta de Vigo shocked Barcelona with a 1-0 win at Camp Nou earlier in the season and nearly stunned the Catalans again, falling just short. It took the league-leaders nearly 75 minutes to open the scoring as Jeremy Mathieu’s 73rd minute header proved to be the game winner. The home side pushed for an equalizer late on, only to be forced to ten men when Fabian Orellana was sent off for throwing a chunk of turf at Sergio Busquets. Barcelona remain four points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the table following the victory.
[ RELATED: Saturday’s La Liga & Serie A roundup ]
Valencia 0-0 Villarreal
A crucial match in the race for a Champions League berth ended in a scoreless draw at Mestalla Stadium. Valencia will be disappointed with the result as they were jumped by Atletico Madrid for third place in La Liga on Saturday. Alvaro Negredo come off the bench in search of a game winner for the hosts, but failed to create many clear goalscoring opportunities. With the draw Villarreal sit in sixth place, 11 points behind fourth place Valencia. That means the club is in need of somewhat of a miracle to earn a spot in the Champions League next season.
Elsewhere in La Liga
Getafe 2-1 Deportivo
Espanyol vs. Elche (Monday, 12 p.m. ET)