Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro will without a doubt go down as one of, if not thee, greatest players to ever play the game. Countless trophies with club and country, along with a litany of personal accolades, have seen the legendary no.7 pitted against another modern great, Lionel Messi. Who is better Messi or Ronaldo is a debate for the ages. However this article can help all Ronaldo faithfuls with some arsenal for their argument. You see, Ronaldo has scored more hatricks then any other player in the 21st century. While Lewadownski has 24, Luis Suarez on 29 and Messi netting 54, Cristiano Ronaldo is sitting on the staggering number of 57……..and we are going to look at every single one of them.
11 24/09/2011 Real Madrid v Rayo Vallecano La Liga
Despite going down in the first 13 seconds, Los Blanco’s recovered and ran riot after Ronaldo equalised on the 38th minute. Two penalties from Ronaldo along with goals from Higuain, Benzema and Rafeal Varane secured the three points in the 6-2 win.
12 22/10/2011 Real Madrid v Malaga La Liga
It was a first half hat-trick for the starman this time which help compliment Higuain’s opening goal. Madrid won the game 4-0 and started a march towards league success.
13 06/11/2011 Real Madrid v Osasuna La Liga
An emphatic 7-1 victory against Osasuna allowed Real Madrid to extend their lead at the top of La Liga by four points. Benzema, Pepe, Higuain got on the scoresheet but it was all about Ronaldo’s hat-trick . This was the fourth consecutive month in which he did.
14 17/12/2011 Real Madrid v Sevilla La Liga
A repeat of last years scoreline in which Ronaldo also got three! Angel Di Maria, Hamit Altintop and José Callejón all contributed in this win that helped Madrid get back on top of the table.
15 12/02/2012 Real Madrid v Levante La Liga
A superb hat-trick for Ronaldo in this 4-2 victory helped send Jose Mourinho’s men ten points clear at the top of the table.
16 11/04/2012 Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid La Liga
A derby day win away at the Vicente Calderon Stadium. After some stuttering performances (notice no Ronaldo hat-trick in January) Real restored their lead at the top of La Liga to four points with this 4-2 victory. Ronaldo and his teammates were crowned La Liga champs at the end of the year, Ronaldo’s first with Madrid and Madrids 32nd overall.
17 30/09/2012 Real Madrid Deportivo La Coruna La Liga
After waiting a few months Ronaldo registered a hat-trick giving him confidence ahead of meeting Barcelona in the league the following week. They hammered poor Deportivo 5-1 with Pepe and Di Maria also getting on the board.
18 03/10/2012 Real Madrid v Ajax Champions League
Four days after netting three against Deportivo, Ronaldo does it again, for the first time in the Champions League. The game is probably best remembered though for a Karim Benzema over-head kick.
19 09/01/2013 Real Madrid v Celta Vigo Copa del Rey
Things were not going so well for Madrid at this time. They were 16 points behind Barcelona in the league, Ronaldo just finished runner up to Messi at the World Player of the Year awards, and they were coming into this game losing 2-1 on aggregate. However a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick helped Real Madrid to a 4-0 victory over Celta Vigo that put them in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey.
20 27/01/2013 Real Madrid v Getafe La Liga
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a quick 10-minute hat-trick as Real Madrid beat Getafe. Real Madrid were still 12 points behind Barcelona in the league, but had a big Copa De Ray game against their bitter rivals to look forward to. Sergio Ramos scored also to help his side to a 4-0 victory.
