Cristiano Ronaldo has warmed up for Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League clash with Manchester United with a stunning hat-trick in Real Madrid’s 4-1 demolition of Sevilla in La Liga on Sunday.
Karim Benzema opened the scoring on 18 minutes, before the Portuguese scored a fine hat-trick. However, Ronaldo was substituted late in the contest, although his team-mate Pepe said he was fine.
“Ronaldo’s fine. He works hard and has to play. He deserves it (the hat-trick),” Pepe said.
“The team works hard every day. Today, we went all out. Every game is special, but on Wednesday we will have to keep (our form) up.”
In the league title race, third-placed Real are 13 points behind leaders Barcelona, who host Getafe on Sunday. Real assistant manager Aitor Karanka conceded the Champions League was now their focus.
“We have shown we still want to win every league game,” Karanka said. “However, the Champions League takes centre stage now.”