Villarreal v Real Madrid: Hosts out to stop rampant Ronaldo

Villarreal are the latest side to be tasked with halting the sensational form of Cristiano Ronaldo when they face Real Madrid on Saturday.

Real travel to El Madrigal on the back of an 8-2 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna and a 5-1 victory over Elche, displays each marked by superb performances from Portugal star Ronaldo.

The former Manchester United forward scored a hat-trick versus Deportivo and backed that up with a four-goal haul against Elche, taking his tally for the season to 12 goals in just eight appearances.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti believes a recent break, in which Ronaldo missed Portugal’s 1-0 loss to Albania and Real’s 4-2 defeat to Real Sociedad earlier this month, has helped the 29-year-old rediscover his best form.

And for a Villarreal team that has failed to beat Real in each of their last eight meetings, Ronaldo’s scoring spree could not have come at a worse time.

After drawing 1-1 with top-flight newboys Eibar in midweek, despite coach Marcelino’s perceived “total domination” of the game, the Madrigal boss warned he will not sit back and accept a thrashing at Real’s hands

“[Real] is a game that motivates us very much,” he said.

“But I will be annoyed if we allow them to keep up their scoring rate of their last three games.”

Villarreal’s defensive record of four conceded in five Liga fixtures so far is decent, but they suffered a scare in their last home outing in coming from two goals down to beat Rayo Vallecano 4-2.

And any hopes the hosts may have of ending their five-year wait for a win over Real should be tempered by a long list of injury concerns, with as many as five players still on the sidelines.

Forward Giovani dos Santos is still unavailable due to a torn calf muscle, left-back Bojan Jokic remains out because of a knee problem, while Hernan Perez, Jaume Costa and Pablo Iniguez are also set to miss out again.

Those issues are made worse by the fact that most of Real’s big hitters are at peak fitness.

Ancelotti revealed after the trouncing of Elche that midfielder Luka Modric and striker Karim Benzema are both in line to feature after being rested for that match, leaving Jese Rodriguez (knee), Sami Khedira (thigh) and Pepe (muscle fatigue) as Real’s only major absentees.

But there is uncertainty over the goalkeeper position after Keylor Navas produced a strong performance versus Elche, the Costa Rican making his case for selection over club legend Iker Casillas, who was jeered by Real’s fans in the loss to city rivals Atletico Madrid earlier this month.