CRISTIANO RONALDO set a personal record for goals in a season by scoring a hat trick in the first half of Real Madrid’s season finale Saturday.

    The three goals in Real’s 7-3 win against Getafe brought his season tally to 61 in all competitions, one better than the 60 he scored in 2012.

    Ronaldo finished with 48 goals in La Liga — the most in his six seasons with Real Madrid — eclipsing rival Lionel Messi of Barcelona by five. Ronaldo finished two goals shy of Messi’s La Liga record of 50 in a season, set in 2012.

    The Ballon d’Or winner added another 10 goals in the Champions League, two in the UEFA Super Cup in August, and one in the Copa del Rey, for 61 goals in 54 games, a rate of about 1.13 goals per match.

    Ronaldo and Messi are joint top scorers in the Champions League, though Messi could surpass him by scoring in the final against Juventus.

    Ronaldo’s season came to an end in the 58th minute Saturday when he was replaced by Martin Odegaard, who at 16 years, five months and six days old became the youngest player to debut for Real Madrid.

    Saturday’s hat trick, Ronaldo’s eighth in La Liga this season, extended his career league record to 27.

    Ronaldo also claimed a one-goal edge over Messi for the most league goals in the past five seasons — 199 to 198.

    Real did not have the lead after explosive finishes from Getafe trio Sergio Escudero, Diego Castro and Mehdi Lacen. Second-half goals from Javier Hernandez, James Rodriguez, Jese and Marcelo earned victory but Real’s season will still be seen as a disappointment after Barcelona beat the side to the title and it also came up short in the Champions League.

    Hernandez and Ronaldo went close early on before the latter opened the scoring in the 13th minute, rising high to powerfully head in Marcelo’s deep cross.

    (SD-Agencies)