Ramos left dumbstruck by Ronaldo

Real Madrid star Sergio Ramos was left struggling for the words to describe Cristiano Ronaldo after his record-breaking display on Saturday.

The Portugal star was in inspired form at the Santiago Bernabeu against Celta Vigo, scoring all three goals as Real won their 18th consecutive match in all competitions, equalling Barcelona’s all-time Spanish record set in the 2005-06 season.

It was Ronaldo’s 23rd Liga hat-trick, surpassing the 22 landmark set by Telmo Zarra and Alfredo Di Stefano, while the 29-year-old also moved himself on to 200 league goals for Real in just his 178th outing.

And Ramos, who himself was making his 300th league appearance for the club during the 3-0 win, found himself incapable of finding the words to convey Ronaldo’s ability.

“The figures he reaches are crazy,” Ramos told reporters.

“The truth is, it’s a privilege for Real Madrid to have a player like him in the squad.

“You have to invent words to describe him. He’s breaking all the records, maybe he’s now in the prime of his career.”

Ramos was proud of reaching his own career milestone, noting that it capped off a fine day in conjunction with Real winning an 18th consecutive match.

The former Sevilla man added: “It’s a special day for me because it’s not every day that you reach such an important number of appearances in La Liga.

“Collectively, things have gone very well, with the winning streak and we are up there [towards the top of the table].

“Hopefully I can continue here for many more years and double that number [of 300 matches].”

A calf injury to James Rodriguez took a little of the gloss off the result, but coach Carlo Ancelotti is not too concerned about the situation.

“Rodriguez has a calf injury,” said the Italian. “We will assess him in the coming days. 

“We can replace him well, though, as Isco and [Sami] Khedira are due back.”