Cristiano Ronaldo has joined an elite group of players to have scored 50 goals in a single European season when he netted twice for Real Madrid on Sunday evening in a 3-1 win over Villarreal at El Madrigal in the Primera Division. The Portugal international attacker recorded his milestone 50th goal on 22 minutes with a trademark freekick, rifling in a dipping, curling shot from 20 yards out to give his side a 2-0 lead over the Yellow Submarine. He repeated the trick four minutes into injury time, scoring an almost identical freekick to notch up his 51st of the season in all competitions. It ensured that he became only the second player in Spanish football history to break the 50-goal-a-season mark. His close rival, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi was the first when he reached the landmark on April 23, 2011 against Osasuna. It was also Ronaldo’s 37th and 38th goals in La Liga this campaign, allowing him to equal the record number of goals scored in the league in one season. With just one more round left to play, CR7 can now break Telmo Zarra and Hugo Sanchez’s record of 38 league goals in a single term. The Mexican legendary striker scored that many goals in 1989-1990 while featuring for Madrid, equalling the feat set by Zarra for Athletic Bilbao in 1950-51. However, Zarra scored 38 goals in 30 matches at the time and although Ronaldo could well break this record with Madrid to host Almeria at the Santiago Bernabeu next week, he would fail on games to goals ratio. Nevertheless, the 26-year-old has already bettered the accomplishment of Brazilian legend Ronaldo (47), Zarra (48) and Hungary's Ferenc Puskas (49). Source: Goal.com