Zinedine Zidane’s side took the lead when Asensio nodded in, but Betis equalised through Aissa Mandi.

Nacho’s own goal put Betis ahead at the break but Sergio Ramos, Asensio and Cristiano Ronaldo scored to put the defending champions in control.

Sergio Leon’s late goal caused a few nerves at 4-3 before an injury-time fifth from substitute Karim Benzema.

Real had come from behind to beat Paris St-Germain 3-1 in the first leg of their the Champions League last-16 tie last week.

There was plenty of determination about that performance, and this one owed much to the quality of their finishing after Ramos headed in following a corner.

The third and fourth goals in particular – scored by Asensio and Ronaldo – were clinical strikes.

Substitute Leon pulled one back for Betis with five minutes left when he got on the end of Junior’s cross, but Real held on but any nerves were eased by Benzema.

Fourth-placed Real are 17 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona, who beat Eibar 2-0 on Saturday.

Zidane’s side are 10 points behind second-placed Atletico Madrid and a point behind Valencia in third.

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Source: BBC Sport

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Ronaldo set up Lucas Vazquez to head in the first-minute opener, then blasted home from Marcelo’s cross.

Toni Kroos added a third before Ronaldo headed in Luka Modric’s corner.

Jon Bautista pulled one back after the break, but Ronaldo scored his third from close range before Asier Illarramendi’s volleyed consolation.

Confidence booster for PSG tie

With Real Madrid long out of the La Liga title race – they are 16 points behind Barcelona even after this win – the Champions League is their last remaining hope for the season – and perhaps for Zinedine Zidane’s job.

Real became the first team to successfully defend the Champions League last season, both successes coming in Zidane’s two years in charge. But they have been poor domestically this season.

Zidane named a strong side against 14th-placed Real Sociedad, with only Gareth Bale and Casemiro rested from their last match, and he was rewarded with a good performance and result – a couple of defensive blips aside.

They could – and should – have won by more, with Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, who was booed by the home fans after missing a last-minute sitter, also hitting the woodwork.

Bale did come on late on, and had a hand in Ronaldo’s third, his shot being parried straight to the Portuguese to score.

Real – who move up to third in the table – host PSG on Wednesday in the Champions League round of 16 first leg, with the trip to France not until Tuesday, 6 March.

Ronaldo finding domestic form

Ronaldo’s Champions League form was never in doubt this season – he became the first player in history to score in each group game, scoring nine times in the six games.

But he had scored only four La Liga goals before the new year.

However, seven goals in his last four games suggest that was an anomaly for a player who has now scored 33 hat-tricks in the Spanish top flight.

He looked full of confidence as he struck three times, and could have scored more – hitting the post and heading wide from close range towards the end.

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Source:BBC

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The Real Madrid forward struck Portugal’s opener in tonight’s European Qualifier against the Faroe Islands, taking him to 76 for his country and ahead of Kocsis, and Ronaldo then completed a hat-trick. His tally of 78 is even one ahead of Pelé’s career total for Brazil, putting Ronaldo joint fifth on the world list.

The 32-year-old still has a little way to go to catch Ferenc Puskás’s European record of 84 goals, but if he continues at this rate with a joint-record 14 in this qualifying campaign alone then there is every chance he will. Ali Daei scored 109 times for Iran, the world record.

Europe’s all-time top international goalscorers
Ferenc Puskás (Hungary & Spain) – 84 goals in 89 appearances

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – 78 in 146
Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) – 75 in 68
Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 71 in 137
Gerd Müller (West Germany) – 68 in 62
Robbie Keane (Republic of Ireland) – 68 in 146
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden) – 62 in 116
Imre Schlosser (Hungary) – 59 in 68
David Villa (Spain) – 59 in 97
Jan Koller (Czech Republic) – 55 in 91
Joachim Streich (East Germany) – 55 in 102
Wayne Rooney (England) – 53 in 117
Poul Nielsen (Denmark) – 52 in 38
Jon Dahl Tomasson (Denmark) – 52 in 112
Lajos Tichy (Hungary) – 51 in 72
Hakan Sükür (Turkey) – 51 in 112
Thierry Henry (France) – 51 in 123
Robin van Persie (Netherlands) – 50 in 102

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Source: UEFA

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The award will be presented at the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on Thursday 24 August.

The shortlist of three players was selected by a jury comprising the 80 coaches of the clubs which participated in the group stage of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, along with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, representing each of UEFA’s member associations.

UEFA’s Men’s Player of the Year Award recognises the best players, irrespective of nationality, playing for a club within the territory of a UEFA member association during the past season. Players are judged on their performances in all competitions – domestic, continental and international.

The final result was based on the total number of votes cast by the coaches and the journalists. The coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.

The players who make up the rest of the top ten are:
4: Luka Modrić (Croatia, Real Madrid)
5: Toni Kroos (Germany, Real Madrid)
6: Paulo Dybala (Argentina, Juventus)
7: Sergio Ramos (Spain, Real Madrid)
8: Kylian Mbappé (France, Monaco)
9: Robert Lewandowski (Poland, Bayern München)
10: Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden, Manchester United)

Messi and Ronaldo have both won the award twice previously – Messi in 2010/11 and 2014/15, and Ronaldo in 2013/14 and last season. Other players who have won this accolade are Andrés Iniesta (Spain, Barcelona) in 2011/12 and Franck Ribéry (France, Bayern München) in 2012/13.

The UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award complements four new positional UEFA Champions League awards, which will crown the best goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward of the 2016/17 Champions League season. These awards will also be presented during the group stage draw on 24 August.

The following day, the 2016/17 UEFA Europa League Player of the Season award will be presented at the competition’s 2017/18 group stage draw in Monaco. Three players, all from last season’s title-winners Manchester United, have been shortlisted – Zlatan Ibrahimović, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba.

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Source: UEFA

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He was given a one-match ban for being shown two yellow cards and a further four for pushing the referee in the back after he had been sent off.

The bookings at the Nou Camp were for taking off his shirt to celebrate his goal to make it 2-1 and for a dive.

He will miss Wednesday’s second leg.

Ronaldo, 32, will have 10 days to appeal.

The Portugal international will be able to play in the Champions League but will not return to domestic action until 20 September against Real Betis.

Madrid had already signalled their intent to appeal against Ronaldo’s second yellow card shown for diving eight minutes from time when he went down inside the area under pressure from Samuel Umtiti.

“Ronaldo’s sending-off annoys me because even if it is not a penalty, the card is harsh,” said Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane after the game. “We will see if we can do something so that he is available on Wednesday.”

Ronaldo was only on the field for 24 minutes as he was introduced as a second-half substitute and fired into the top corner 10 minutes from time to give Madrid a 2-1 lead.

It was Ronaldo’s 10th red card of his career and the two yellow cards on Sunday came within two minutes.

“Once shown the red card, said player (Ronaldo) pushed me lightly as a sign of his disapproval,” the referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea wrote in his post-match report.

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Source: BBC

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BBC Sport reported in June that Ronaldo was left upset after being accused of tax fraud and wants to leave Spain.

A move back to United, whom he left for a then world record £80m in 2009, has been mentioned as a possibility.

However, when asked about the likelihood of the move, Mourinho said it cannot happen due to the “economic difficulty” of doing the deal.

Mourinho was asked about signing Portugal captain Ronaldo after his side had beaten LA Galaxy 5-2 in the first match of their pre-season tour of the United States on Sunday.

“I am not going to get my club to waste time on players who are mission impossible.

“Ronaldo is such an important player for his club. A player of great economic power. We have not been able to find any reason that could have made us think that Ronaldo could leave.”

Mourinho added that he did not believe another Real Madrid player, striker Alvaro Morata, will end up at Old Trafford either.

“It is a shame,” he said.

“He is a player who made it to the first team with me and I have a special liking for. I enjoyed watching his evolution in Juventus and Madrid.

“But we have not reached an agreement with his club and I don’t think he can end with us.”
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Source: BBC

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Spanish prosecutors have accused Ronaldo, 32, of defrauding the authorities of millions of euros in tax, which he has denied.

“He feels he’s honest, has good character and did everything OK,” added the source.

His Real contract has a 1bn euro (£874.88m) release clause.

The source added: “He’s very sad and really upset.

“He doesn’t want to stay in Spain. At this moment, he wants to leave.”

Ronaldo, who joined Real from Manchester United for £80m in 2009, signed a five-year deal with the European champions in November 2016.

China would be one potential destination but the Portuguese forward’s advisers would prefer for him to stay in Europe, most likely either moving to Paris St-Germain or returning to the Premier League.

Ronaldo, who has helped Real win the Champions League three times and La Liga twice, is accused of evading tax to the value of 14.7m euros (£13m; $16m) between 2011 and 2014.

Real Madrid have released a statement saying they had “full confidence” in their player, and that they were convinced he would prove his innocence.

In 2016-17, Ronaldo helped Real win the Spanish title for the first time since 2012 as well as retain the Champions League.

Ronaldo, who also won the Champions League with Manchester United in 2008, has scored a record 105 goals in the competition, 11 more than Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, his nearest challenger.

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Source: BBC

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