French striker Karim Benzema has labelled Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo a phenomenon after the Ballon d’Or winner scored five goals in a remarkable 9-1 win over Granada at the Bernabeu.
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Twitter reacts as Cristiano Ronaldo scores five for Real Madrid in 9-1 Granada thrashing
(Video) Real Madrid 9-1 Granada La Liga Highlights: Cristiano Ronaldo nets five and Gareth Bale grabs pair of assists
The forward, widely regarded as in the top two players in the world, scored five goals in a single game for the first time in his career to reach 300 goals for Los Blancos in an astonishing 287 appearances.
After the game Benzema said, “Cristiano is a phenomenon, he is always looking for goals and ways to help the team. He deserves everything he has achieved.”
Benzema also bagged a brace after Gareth Bale opened the scoring, following a brace against Levante in the previous home game for the side, as the strike partnership which had come in for much criticism following a slight slump in form found their shooting boots once again.
Benzema added, “‘Him (Ronaldo), Bale and me, we’re in good form, like always. We’re helping the team and sometimes we score and other times we don’t, but we’re in good shape to continue like that until the end of the season.”
The five goals for Ronaldo inched him further to becoming Real Madrid’s all-time top goalscorer, as he hunts down Raul’s 323 goals and he was quick to highlight his team-mate’s influence on Twitter after writing, “Happy to have scored 5 goals with this excellent team work. Thank you for all your support.”