Real Madrid vs Malaga preview - Casillas hails `incredible` Ronaldo

Posted Sunday, March 18, 2012 by PA

Cristiano Ronaldo will hope to continue his phenomenal goalscoring form this weekend and help Real Madrid take another giant step towards the Primera Division title when Malaga visit the Bernabeu.

Ronaldo finished as the leading scorer in La Liga last season after netting an astonishing 40 times in his first campaign in Spain, but the former Manchester United man incredibly looks on course to top that mark this season.

His brace in last weekend's 3-2 win at Real Betis saw him move onto 32 goals in La Liga alone - with 12 games left - while his tally in all competitions is 42 after he netted another double in Wednesday's 4-1 Champions League triumph over CSKA Moscow.

Long-serving goalkeeper Iker Casillas has played alongside the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Brazilian striker Ronaldo at Madrid, but he admits what the Portugal international has achieved during his time at the Bernabeu is stunning.

"I've never seen anybody like him. His statistics with Real Madrid are incredible, he's surpassed players of the calibre of Ronaldo the Brazilian and I never thought that a player could assume that role so quickly," Casillas was quoted as saying in AS newspaper.

Ronaldo's remarkable form this season has helped Jose Mourinho's men open up a 10-point gap over nearest challengers Barcelona at the top of the standings as they look to end the Catalan club's three-year reign as champions.

Madrid thrashed Malaga 4-0 away in the first league meeting between the two this season - Ronaldo netting one of his six La Liga hat-tricks this term - but the Andalusian side will be confident of make things tougher for their opponents tomorrow.

Malaga have climbed up to fourth spot after winning four of their last five matches and Manuel Pellegrini's side are now just four points behind third-placed Valencia.

Malaga also gave Madrid a major scare on their last visit to the Bernabeu when, in January's Copa del Rey tie, they led 2-0 after 30 minutes before conceding three times in 10 second-half minutes to lose 3-2.

Full-back Nacho Monreal said: "We are now in the Champions League spots and, without doubt, the team are in a very good moment. We're full of hope, confidence and the desire to have a good game like in the cup and be able to take away the three points from the Bernabeu."

However, he knows it will not be easy, adding: "We know that they are a very difficult side at home, where they've only lost once and they have a high-quality and big squad

"(But) you get chances against them and we need to take advantage of ours. We must not worry about them in general or any one player, but look at ourselves."