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Cristiano Ronaldo

MADRID. — Sergio Ramos says Cristiano Ronaldo’s statistics are the stuff of madness after he grabbed a record 23rd La Liga hat-trick to guide leaders Real Madrid to a 3-0 victory over Celta Vigo at the Bernabeu on Saturday.

It also helped the European champions extend their club record winning streak to 18 matches in all competitions and equal the record run of victories set by Barcelona between October 2005 and January 2006.

With his latest treble, he overtook greats Alfredo Di Stefano of Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao’s Telmo Zarra and he has three more hat-tricks than his present day rival Lionel Messi at Barcelona.

“The statistics he is producing are madness,” teammate Sergio Ramos told reporters.

“To be honest it is a privilege to play at Real Madrid with a player like him. You have to invent words to define him. He is beating all the records and is possibly in the best form of his career.”

Ronaldo, the inspiration behind Real’s blistering form this season, struck the opening goal from the penalty spot nine minutes before the break after he was felled by Jonny Castro.

While Real constantly looked to push forward, they also found it tough against a well-organised Celta.

There was no stopping Ronaldo though as he blasted a volley from the centre of the penalty area after 65 minutes to make it 2-0 before adding a third goal from close range nine minutes from the end.

“To have a player like Cristiano is a big advantage,” coach Carlo Ancelotti told reporters.

“He is playing very well at the moment. He has an extraordinary motivation and physically he is at his best.” — SuperSport.