Real Madrid 4-0 Shakhtar Donetsk: Ronaldo hat-trick gets Blancos off to perfect start

Posted Wednesday, September 16, 2015 by Foxsports.com

The Portugal international struck twice from the penalty spot before heading a third after Karim Benzema opened the scoring for Rafa Benitez's side

Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick helped Real Madrid to a 4-0 victory over 10-man Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday although it came at a cost with injuries to three key players.

Rafael Benitez will likely be judged on Madrid's showing in the competition this term and, in his first European outing at the helm, Ronaldo's treble helped mask knocks to Gareth Bale, Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos.

Madrid had been frustrated for much of the opening half hour prior to Bale's withdrawal, before Andriy Pyatov spilled a simple cross, allowing Karim Benzema an easy finish.

Benitez replaced Varane with Pepe at the break before Taras Stepanenko's dismissal made Shakhtar's task all the more difficult, the midfielder flying into a second-half challenge on Ramos having already been booked after 32 minutes.

Ramos was then taken off before Ronaldo completed his hat-trick inside 26 second-half minutes - tucking home two penalties to move two goals clear of Lionel Messi in the competition's all-time scoring charts.

And Ronaldo, who put five past Espanyol at the weekend, nodded home a rebound after Marcelo's shot was blocked to wrap up a simple win.