Remembering Cristiano Ronaldo's 4-goal haul against Girona in 2018

Real Madrid's domestic season in 2017/18 was one to be forgotten. Los Blancos' less than impressive defensive record in La Liga led to a third place finish at the end of a campaign that was utterly dominated by Barcelona.

But there was no faulting Zinedine Zidane's side for entertainment value and sheer, world-class footballers on view, demonstrated none more so than by Real's 6-3 victory over Girona on 18 March 2018 - a show stolen by the enigmatic Cristiano Ronaldo.

Heading into the tie Girona found themselves as La Liga's surprise package, sitting seventh in their first ever venture into the top flight. Real Madrid, on the other hand, were enduring a rocky time of it, occupying fourth spot and rapidly losing ground in the title race.

A good time for your main man to score four goals in one game? I think so.

Things couldn't have started better for Los Blancos. It took Ronaldo just 11 minutes to notch his first of the game, as he swept a Toni Kroos cut-back into the far corner of the goal.

Lucas Vazquez had the ball in the net on 22 minutes before having it chalked off for offside and, instead, it was the visitors celebrating. Cristhian Stuani (yes, that one) neatly headed home from an Alex Granell cross to equalise and take the sides into the break on level terms.

It's in these kinds of situations that you desperately need a talisman, a player capable of deciding a match with a click of his fingers, a Ronaldo. And whether it was simply an absolute bo*****ing by Zidane or just the genius of the Portuguese wonder that influenced the second half, we'll never know.

But, whatever it was, it worked. Boy, did it work.

It took Ronaldo just three minutes after the restart to secure his brace and set the tone for a blistering second period, emphatically smashing a Karim Benzema through ball home via the underside of the bar - my goodness those look sweet.

Just before the hour mark Ronaldo turned provider - yes, he even added an assist to his numbers for good measure - as Vazquez coolly finished from his lay off. Real's talisman didn't have to wait long for the hat-trick, though, tapping in a rebound in the 64th minute, making it 4-1 within the first 20 minutes of the second half.

Stuani headed in another - bet you thought he'd never score a brace at the Santiago Bernabeu when he was lining up at Middlesbrough, eh - before Gareth Bale and Juanpe strikes set the score at 5-3 going into stoppage time.

Ronaldo had the last laugh, eventually striking once more from a Kroos pass for his poker in the 91st minute and keeping celebrations to a minimum - it was only four, after all.

While it was a match that really pointed out Real Madrid's defensive frailties at the time - they finished the season with comfortably the worst defence in the top four - and couldn't inspire them to even break into the top two, it also demonstrated their cut-throat and thrilling drive going forward, led by the indescribable quality of Ronaldo and simply further cemented his status as one of the greats.

Performances like his four goals and assist against Girona in March 2018 were instrumental to Los Blancos throughout his career in the Spanish capital, an illustrious nine years in which he won 15 team honours and, of course, four of his five Ballon d'Ors.

In the 2017/18 season, Ronaldo would strike 26 times in La Liga, and his total tally of 44 would lead Real Madrid to their third successive Champions League title before saying adios to Los Blancos and joining Juventus.