Ronaldo smashes Raul’s record

Cristiano Ronaldo set a club scoring record as Real Madrid beat Levante 3-0 at the Bernabeu and went top of La Liga last Saturday.

Marcelo fired Real ahead in the 27th minute at the Bernabéu when he exchanged passes with Ronaldo and blasted the ball past Rubén in the Levante goal.

Ronaldo made it 2-0 three minutes later when he cracked a long-range effort into the corner, his 324th Real goal putting him one clear of Raúl. It ended a rare four-match goal drought in Spain’s top flight for the Portugal captain, his joint-worst run since he joined Real in 2009.

The substitute Jesé skipped past his marker and drove the ball high into the net to make it 3-0 eight minutes from time as Real secured a morale-boosting win as they build towards Wednesday’s Champions’ League Group A match at Paris Saint-Germain.

Elsewhere, Neymar netted his first four-goal haul, including two penalties, for Barcelona last Saturday. It was one of the 23-year-old’s best performances since joining in 2013 as the Spanish and European champions fought back from 1-0 down to beat a spirited Rayo Vallecano 5-2 at the Camp Nou. The visitors took a surprise lead but then Neymar got into the action with his four before he set up Luis Suárez for the fifth.

The Brazilian became La Liga’s top scorer with eight goals this season, scoring twice in each half as Barcelona beat Rayo Vallecano 5-2. — PAS