Cristiano Ronaldo scores four for Real Madrid as they rout Malmo 8-0

Cristiano Ronaldo set a record for goals scored in the group stage of theChampions League of 11 when he scored four in an 8-0 win against Malmo in Group A on Tuesday.

The goals came in 22 minutes. The Portugal forward made it 3-0 to his team seven minutes before half-time at the Bernabéu and added three more in the 47th, 50th and 59th minutes.

Ronaldo, who has reached double figures for a fifth consecutive Champions League campaign, extended his all-time Champions League scoring record to 88 goals.

He is the first Real player to score four goals in a Champions League match, with the overall record of five held by Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Luiz Adriano, who achieved the feat with Shakhtar Donetsk but now plays for Milan.

Ronaldo’s first goal improved his surprisingly poor record at free-kicks. It was only the third free-kick the Ballon d’Or holder had scored from in his last 97 attempts in all competitions, according to Spanish Twitter statistician @2010MisterChip.

The Portuguese also set up two goals by Karim Benzema and Mateo Kovavic put Real 7-0 ahead in the 70th minute before Benzema completed the rout with his third goal of the night 16 minutes from time.

Real finished the group stage on 16 points, with Paris St Germain, who had already qualified in second place, on 13 after they won 2-0 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk.

The game meant little for Madrid because they had already secured first place in Group A but the convincing victory helped ease the pressure on the coach, Rafael Benítez, and the president, Florentino Pérez.

“We knew it would be a strange match because they had to come out and play to win to finish third,” Benitez said afterwards. “We scored eight but it could have been more. I have always said that I am not defensive and this demonstrates it.”

Shakhtar and Malmo, who lost to Nottingham Forest in the 1979 European Cup final, each have three points, with the Ukrainian side securing third place and a Europa League berth thanks to a better head-to-head record.