Ronaldo Plays Down His Hat-Trick Heroics

Ronaldo has heaped praise on his Real Madrid teammates as he attempted to downplay his impressive hat-trick against Alaves.

The Brazilian notched his first triple since moving to the Bernabeu during Madrid's 5-1 win, but he was keener to talk about the contribution of others rather than his own exploits.

"To score three goals in a game is very unusual for me," he explained. "I had a lot of chances in the game and was therefore able to score more goals."

"But it is my understanding with Raul that was great. The more we play together, the more we learn about each other's game."

"He is a very clever player and is always in the right place. He has everything a striker should have."

"I have always said that there are better players in the world than me and Zinedine Zidane is one of them."

"He is a very intelligent player who is capable of determining the rhythm of a match and he is also very elegant when he plays."

"So, it was nice to do well for them with my goals."

"Steve McManaman reminded me about the English tradition of collecting the ball and told me to get it off the referee, but I didn't have time after the match."