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Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick fired Real Madrid to a 5-2 victory over Real Sociedad at the Bernabeu.
Lucas Vazquez’s header opened the scoring after just one minute before Ronaldo’s close-range finish made it two. Then, another Ronaldo goal, this time with his head, made it 3-0, before an exquisite curled finish from Toni Kroos gave Madrid an incredible 4-0 lead at half-time.
In the second half, Madrid were not as ruthless and surrendered more possession, which led to substitute Jon Bautista getting on the scoresheet. Madrid then hit back with one of their own as Ronaldo got his hat-trick capitalising on a goalkeeping error before Asier Illarramendi scored against his old club to end the match at 5-2.
Here are the player ratings from an eventful night at the Bernabeu:
Real Sociedad
Geronimo Rulli – 5
Rulli was not at fault for a single goal and was not being helped by the defence in front of him at all in the first half. That was until he made a horrendous save from Bale and parried it to Ronaldo to gift him his hat-trick.
Alvaro Odriozola – 4
Vazquez ran Odriozola ragged all night, and he must have been thankful when he was eventually taken off.
Aritz Elustondo – 4
Didn’t shut down Ronaldo’s cross for the opening goal and struggled massively in the first half. His passive defending allowed Madrid to attack with ease.
Raul Navas – 4
Similar to Elustondo, along with his risky playing out from the back against Madrid’s high press which often put his team under pressure, his defending was too passive and poor, which made it so easy for Real Madrid.
Alberto de la Bella – 4
De la Bella simply couldn’t handle Asensio and Marcelo on the overlap. He wasn’t particularly helped by anyone in front of him but it was a very difficult night for the fullback.
Mikel Oyarzabal – 5
Oyarzabal put in a terrible first half performance and barely saw any of the ball. Madrid made it easier for Sociedad
Asier Illarramendi – 6
Illarramendi struggled on his return to the Bernabeu, where he had an unsuccessful spell, but did pop up with Sociedad’s second goal. However, that did not cover up the fact it was a poor performance from the midfielder.
David Zurutuza – 5
Zurutuza struggled against Kroos and Modric who took control of the ball and often dispossessed him on the counter-attack. This led to him being taken off rather early in the second half.
Xabi Prieto – 5
Everything Prieto did was being cut out by Madrid players as he struggled to create or retain the ball on the counter-attack. It was a very tough evening for the Sociedad captain.
Juanmi – 6
Juanmi was unlucky not to score with a header from a corner when it hit the post early in the second half and it was him who nodded down to Illarramendi to assist Sociedad's second. But, his threat only came in the second half when Madrid’s intensity cooled off massively.
Sergio Canales – 5
Canales found it extremely tough all evening and just couldn’t drive at the Madrid defence as they had so much of the ball. He was eventually substituted after 60 minutes in what was a very poor performance.
Substitutions:
Jon Bautista – 7
The young substitute found space with some good movement and slotted home well to give his side a consolation goal.
Igor Zubeldia – 6
Zubeldia showed some energy off the bench and looked keen to get involved, unfortunately, he didn’t have long enough to make too much of an impact.
Jon Guridi – N/A
Guridi replaced Juanmi for the final six minutes, but the game was petering out with the score-line being impossible to chase down for Sociedad.
Real Madrid
Keylor Navas – 6
Navas had almost nothing to do until Bautista was racing through one on one in the 74th minute and slotted the ball home. He could do nothing about it and then he was also frustrated by the poor defending which saw Madrid and him concede a second. He’ll be disappointed he couldn’t keep a clean sheet.
Dani Carvajal – 6
Carvajal put in a strong first-half performance and combined well with Vazquez but eased off in the second half and paid the price, picking up a yellow card and making a big error which led to Bautista’s goal.
Sergio Ramos – 6
Ramos played out from the back well, but unfortunately, it’s another performance where he was part of a back four who conceded more than one goal.
Raphael Varane – 6
Varane didn’t put a foot wrong all night, but the fact Madrid were so in control meant his team-mates were concentrating less, and it saw him be part of a defence that eventually conceded two.
Marcelo – 8
Marcelo, as he does so often, put in another wonderful display. The Brazilian gets up and down the pitch with ease and gave Odriozola so many problems, along with Asensio. Furthermore, his cut back for Ronaldo’s opening goal was pinpoint as he got another assist for the season.
Lucas Vazquez – 8
On a rare start, Vazquez scored an excellent header inside a minute to give Madrid the lead. He then continued to give de la Bella problems throughout the night and even got the assist for Kroos’s goal.
Luka Modric – 6
Modric didn’t perform poorly but just didn’t stand out like he usually does. His position was a bit more defensive than usual and might have hindered his performance slightly.
Toni Kroos – 8
Fantastic goal from outside the box
Marco Asensio – 8
The Spaniard, playing on the left, was roaming and weaving in and out of Sociedad’s midfield with ease. For Ronaldo’s goal, a great bit of skill allowed him to play through Marcelo who got the assist. It was a great return to the line-up for Asensio.
Karim Benzema – 6
Right at the very end with the chance to score Madrid’s sixth, Benzema blazed over the bar from close range and was jeered by the Madrid fans. Even despite Madrid’s dominance and their five goals, Benzema still wasn’t able to get on the scoresheet and was barely in the game.
Cristiano Ronaldo – 10
Right from the off Ronaldo looked set to put in a world-class performance. First, he set up Vazquez’s goal after 48 seconds, before scoring two in the first half himself.
One being a neat finish from close range and the other being a great header. Then, the inevitable happened as he grabbed his hat-trick late in the second half, rounding the keeper and passing into an open goal.
Substitutions
Isco – 6
Isco, given a rest ahead of Madrid’s tie with PSG, came on for the final 27 minutes and did nothing spectacular, but kept possession well.
Mateo Kovacic – 6
Madrid were surrendering lots of possession and easing off, so Kovacic remained comfortable in possession but made no impact.
Gareth Bale – 7
Even playing just 17 minutes, Bale brought the intensity back to Madrid’s attack, and it was no surprise they scored again in the second half after his arrival and his shot was parried to Ronaldo for his hat-trick.
