SPORTS - Amazing Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 25th hat-trick for Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 25th hat-trick for Real Madrid as he grabbed four goals in a 5-1 home win over Elche.

Three days after netting three in an 8-2 victory away to Deportivo La Coruna, the current holder of the FIFA Ballon d'Or award remarkably went one better at the Bernabeu for Carlo Ancelotti's team. Edu Albacar had briefly put Elche in front, with a 15th-minute penalty after Ronaldo fouled Pedro Mosquera, but that only stirred Real and their early offender into action.

Gareth Bale scored Real's equaliser after 20 minutes before Ronaldo took over, burying penalties for his first and third goals, either side of heading home a Marcelo cross from the left for his second. A measured pass from Bale gave Ronaldo shooting space for his fourth in second-half stoppage time, with the ragged Elche defence parting to allow the Portuguese forward an absurd level of freedom.

Ronaldo's staggering haul of trebles has come in little over five years, after he joined from Manchester United in the summer of 2009, and with 21 trebles in the Primera Division alone he stands just one behind club record holder Alfredo Di Stefano.