MADRID // Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in Real Madrid's 8-1 rout of Almeria to set a Primera Liga record of 40 goals in a single season.
Ronaldo poked in Sergio Ramos' header at the far post after four minutes played to break the old record before adding to the tally with an impressive strike in the 77th minute at the Bernabeu.
Ronaldo shared the previous "Pichichi" mark of 38 with Athletic Bilbao's Telmo Zarra and Real's Hugo Sanchez, the league scoring leaders from the 1950/51 and 1989/90 seasons. Spanish league play began in 1929.
"To score so many goals in a season is very hard. I have to thank my teammates," Ronaldo said. "The Pichichi is for them and the fans too."
Ronaldo danced with his teammates in celebration after netting the record-breaking goal as Real coach Jose Mourinho smiled on the bench. The Portugal winger's second took his season tally to 53 in all competitions, including 11 in the last four games.
Ronaldo and the Barcelona forward Lionel Messi are the first Primera Liga players to score at least 50 goals in all competitions in one season.
Messi was left out of the squad for Barcelona's 3-1 league win over Malaga, but can add to his tally of 52 next Saturday when Barcelona play Manchester United in the Champions League final on Saturday.
Ronaldo has scored 86 goals in two seasons with Real, who finished runners-up to Barcelona for the third straight year. Real, however, did beat their biggest rivals to win the Copa del Rey thanks to one of Ronaldo's goals in extra time of the final.
"It's good to finish the season in the best manner possible," Ronaldo said.
Company%20profile
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
At a glance
Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free
Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland
UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
Profile of Tarabut Gateway
Founder: Abdulla Almoayed
Based: UAE
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 35
Sector: FinTech
Raised: $13 million
Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.