Benzema: Ronaldo a phenomenon

It was the first time in his career that Ronaldo has scored five goals in a single match and it saw him become only the third player to reach the 300-goal mark for Madrid, a tally achieved in only 287 appearances.

France international Benzema told the official Real Madrid club website: "Cristiano is a phenomenon, he is always looking for goals and ways to help the team. He deserves everything he has achieved."

Benzema also scored twice after Gareth Bale had opening the scoring as Madrid's much-vaunted strikeforce combined to score eight of their side's nine goals, with the other coming from a Diego Mainz own goal.

"Him (Ronaldo), Bale and me, we're in good form, like always. We're helping the team and sometimes we score and other times we don't, but we're in good shape to continue like that until the end of the season," added Benzema.

Inching closer

Ronaldo, meanwhile, was quick to highlight the role his team-mates played in his five-goal haul as he inched closer to becoming the club's all-time record scorer.

Raul currently leads the way with 323 goals from 741 appearances while Alfredo di Stefano is second with 308 goals from 396 matches.

Ronaldo wrote on Twitter: "Happy to have scored 5 goals with this excellent team work. Thank you for all your support."

Madrid's performance was a timely one, coming after they had lost three of their previous five matches in La Liga and the Champions League - including a 2-1 loss to bitter rivals Barcelona in their last outing.