Real Madrid rout Malmo as Cristiano Ronaldo hits four, Benzema three

Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema both scored hat-tricks as Real Madrid hammered Malmo 8-0 to equal the highest ever victory in the Champions League.

Ronaldo netted four times and Mateo Kovacic was also on the score sheet as the 10-time European Cup winners ran riot at the Bernabeu, matching the figures set by Liverpool in December 2007 when they beat Besiktas by the same score.

Rafa Benitez having the distinction of being the manager on both occasions.

There was an early sign of things to come as a high Malmo defensive line was almost caught out by a direct ball but Benzema's shot was tame and straight at the goalkeeper.

Ronaldo probably saw the game as the perfect chance to extend his lead as the competition's leading scorer and he saw three chances go begging before setting up Benzema for the opening goal after 13 minutes.

The Portuguese found space down the left to cross and Benzema tucked home the ball after Isco's shot was cleared off the line.

It was the same combination for the second goal in the 24th minute as Benzema headed in from six yards out.

Real were carving open Malmo at will and James Rodriguez and Ronaldo went close to extending the lead.

The visitors' best effort came around the half-hour mark but Oscar Lewicki's rising shot never troubled goalkeeper Francisco Casilla.

Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images

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Back at the other end, Johan Wiland saved twice from the increasingly frustrated Ronaldo but he finally got his name on the scoresheet seven minutes before the break with a dipping free-kick which in truth the goalkeeper should have saved.

There was still time for Ronaldo to blast the ball over from an unmarked position near the penalty spot but he well and truly found his shooting boots in the second half.

Two minutes after the restart Ronaldo poked home from close range after da Silva Danilo's shot deflected into his path and with 50 minutes on the clock he had his hat-trick, squeezing a low, hard shot past Wiland following some awful defending from Malmo, becoming the first player to score 10 goals in the group stages.

Benzema almost completed his hat-trick but it was Ronaldo who netted once more just ahead of the hour mark, firing home Isco's cut back.

Malmo went 11 minutes without conceding before Kovacic powered home the seventh goal from a Rodriguez Jese cross and Benzema got his treble shortly afterwards as he glided by a defender and shot past Wiland, leaving Real 17 minutes to get the record.

They could not do it though as Jese missed a chance late on and Isco tried to lob the goalkeeper with the last kick of the match.