Cristiano Ronaldo Sets La Liga Scoring Record: Stats, Latest Comments, Reaction

By Gianni Verschueren , Featured Columnist

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

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Cristiano Ronaldo delivered a spectacular performance for Real Madrid on Saturday, scoring an incredible five goals in Los Blancos' 6-0 win over Espanyol and passing club legend Raul on the La Liga scoring lists in the process. He now has 231 La Liga goals, more than Raul's previous record of 228.

As reported by Bleacher Report UK, he assisted Karim Benzema for the one goal he didn't score:

Ronaldo's scoring record becomes all the more impressive when you consider he needed just 203 matches to pass Raul's sensational mark. Per Antonio M. Leal of Real's official website, Raul set the record in 550 matches.
The Portugal international now sits fourth in the La Liga top scorer's rankings, behind Hugo Sanchez, Telmo Zarra and Lionel Messi, who leads the list with 286 goals, per Soccerway.
Former England international Gary Lineker took a shot at some of the 30-year-old's critics, who noted Ronaldo had yet to score this season:
The three-time Ballon d'Or winner enjoyed one of the finest seasons of his career in 2014-15, scoring an absurd 48 goals in La Liga, per WhoScored.com, but Los Blancos slumped toward the end of the season and failed to collect any major silverware.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti was let go during the summer and replaced with Rafa Benitez, who placed more of an emphasis on the younger Gareth Bale, moving the Welshman to a central role.
Ronaldo looked a little rusty to start the season, and some fans started to wonder whether there would be a smaller role in store for him moving forward. Judging by Saturday's performance, that certainly isn't the case, and per Goal's Ben Hayward, it looked as if he wasn't even satisfied:
It marked the second time in his career that Ronaldo has managed to score five goals in a single match, as he also achieved the feat in a 9-1 drubbing of Granada toward the end of last season.
Ronaldo will now have his eyes set on Sanchez's scoring record, good for third place all time in La Liga, and Zarra's record of 251 goals in 267 matches―via Goal's Dominic Raynor―could also still fall this season.
Messi's record is almost impossible to break, however, as the Barcelona forward is still playing and scoring at an impressive rate. The Argentinian is also younger than Ronaldo, so unless Messi leaves Barcelona or suddenly loses his scoring touch, he'll remain the undisputed top scorer in La Liga for