Real Madrid 7-1 Celta Vigo: Cristiano Ronaldo hits four

Cristiano Ronaldo scored four second-half goals as Real Madrid thumped Celta Vigo 7-1 to ease the pressure on boss Zinedine Zidane.

Pepe headed Real in front after 41 minutes, before two stunning long-range strikes by Ronaldo - the second from a free-kick - put the home side in control.

Iago Aspas then pulled one back for Celta, but Ronaldo struck two more before substitutes Jese Rodriguez and Gareth Bale completed the scoring.

For Bale, it was a fine return to action after being out since January with a calf problem.

There wasn't too much to separate the sides in the first half, but Aspas would have been left kicking himself that he didn't give Celta the lead after 14 minutes.

The former Liverpool man had two golden opportunities in quick succession to bag the opener, first heading onto the bar while in acres of space in the penalty area, before sending the rebound straight at Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas from close range. 

Isco then had a great chance to put Real ahead midway through the half, but Ruben Blanco pulled off a wonderful save in goal for Celta to keep the Real Madrid playmaker out from close range, after he had done well to work himself some space in the box.

Ruben was then called into action again after 40 minutes to keep out Casemiro's header in acrobatic fashion, but could do nothing from the resulting corner as Pepe powered the ball home from Isco's perfectly-flighted delivery.

Falling behind was a huge blow for Celta, and they fell apart entirely after the break as Ronaldo belted one past Ruben from 25 yards in the 50th minute, before repeating the trick with a superb dipping free-kick just eight minutes later.

There was hope for Celta as Aspas made up for his earlier error by pulling one back just after the hour mark, beating the Real offside trap to get onto the end of Sergi Gomez's lofted through ball, before dinking one over the helpless Navas.

But the comeback was extremely short-lived as Ronaldo completed his hat-trick from close range just three minutes later, then heading home a fourth from Jese's corner with 14 minutes left on the clock.

Real weren't done there, though, as Jese himself added Real's sixth less than two minutes after setting up Ronaldo, before Bale marked his return from injury by charging through Celta's defence before finishing low past Ruben from the edge of the area.

It was a highly satisfying afternoon for Zidane's side, who host Roma next in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

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