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A string of excellent performances has seen Cristiano Ronaldo regain the form we expect from the Real Madrid star - and he is now set to overtake Telmo Zarra's historic Liga scoring milestone in record time.
Cristiano Ronaldo is his old self again. At least he is aiming to reach those heady heights, after shining in the past week with a double strike against Athletic followed by a decisive goal to take down Roma in the Stadio Olimpico. Those performances have returned him to the spotlight and he is proving that he can turn it on when most needed against Spain and Europe's biggest clubs.
The forward's record against Madrid's toughest adversaries has not been spotless this season. The statistics show the No. 7 has been maintaining his usual exemplary scoring figures, more than a goal per game; but those same numbers also suggested he filled his boots against the minnows, while when the big boys came calling Ronaldo would go missing.
With that statistical anomaly dogging him for the first half of the season, and Madrid dropping points, until this week a dark cloud had descended over the Santiago Bernabeu. Ronaldo's form was a subject for derision across the world of football, while the rumours linking him with a move away from Madrid continued to persist.
Now, however, the mood has changed. Ronaldo is making the headlines once more for his fine performances, especially since Zinedine Zidane took his place on the club bench. The Frenchman has invested much time and effort into his lynchpin since taking over, and Cristiano repaid his confidence with a goal in the Stadio Olimpico that could reinvigorate the entire Blanco institution.
The pact was sealed with a symbolic embrace under the Roman sky, while ex-coach Rafa Benitez vented his spleen thousands of miles away in a television studio. Now the Madrid support once again look to the future with Ronaldo, having stopped gazing back at a golden, if recent past.
Part of that future will almost certainly be the round milestone of 250 goals in the Spanish Primera Division. Right now Cristiano sits on 246, and it is not overly ambitious to believe that the mark will fall in the course of the next four games - Real will meet Malaga, Atletico, Levante and Celta. But the most symbolic number is not 250, but the goal that will follow.
That mythical figure is the tally reached by Telmo Zarra, a seemingly unbeatable milestone for decades until two "beasts", Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, tore up all the record books. The legendary Athletic striker still holds the second-highest Liga record, having spent 60 years at the summit. But for how long, with Cristiano set to overtake him on the podium in the coming weeks.
Messi himself continues far out in the lead, having passed Zarra's mark almost a year and a half ago and last week attaining a new landmark, his 300th and 301st strikes against Sporting Gijon. The Argentine has played more games than his great rival, but one must take into account that he learned his trade in La Liga as a teenager, gradually building up to the player we know today. Cristiano, meanwhile, arrived at the Bernabeu already the finished product, with a Ballon d'Or under his belt.
Messi needed 289 games to take down Zarra's record. Cristiano has to date played just 224. Barring absolute catastrophe he will pass the Basque icon in fewer games than his Barcelona counterpart, and his strike-rate, at 1.10 goals a game to Messi's 0.90, is also superior.
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