Publications
Partners
Madrid - Five feats achieved in 2014 by Real Madrid and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who on Monday won the Ballon d'Or world player of the year for the third time:
1. Champions League goals record
Ronaldo led Real Madrid to their 10th European crown -- La Decima -- in sensational style by smashing Lionel Messi's record of 15 Champions League goals in a single season with 17 in just 11 appearances.
2. King of the hat-trick
After the conquest of La Decima, there has been no letting up from the 29-year-old Ronald this season as he has already bagged four hat-tricks in La Liga.
His latest treble against Celta Vigo in December was a record-breaking 23rd in the Spanish top flight to take him clear of Real legend Alfredo di Stefano and Telmo Zarra, who both managed 22.
3. Portugal's all-time leading scorer
Ronaldo unseated Pauleta to become Portugal's all-time leading marksman with 52 international goals.
He also became the first Portuguese player to score in three World Cup finals, but his solitary strike against Ghana was not enough to prevent the 2006 semi-finalists bowing out at the group stage.
4. Unstoppable at the Bernabeu
Ronaldo was impossible for opposition defence to tie down at Real Madrid in 2014. He scored in every La Liga game in which he played at the Santiago Bernabeu, striking 23 times in just 14 games.
5. Fastest start to a season yet
Despite the presence of Messi and a niggling knee injury which forced him to miss a league game early in the season, Ronaldo has almost certainly wrapped up a third Pichichi award for La Liga's top goalscorer in 2014-15.
The former Manchester United man has smashed in 26 goals in just 16 games to also become the first man to in Spanish history to score more than 25 times in six La Liga seasons.
