Alex Baghdasarian
Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo broke the La Liga record for goals in a single season after netting his 39th and 40th of the campaign against Almeria.

Ronaldo needed just five minutes of Madrid’s final game of the season against already-relegated Almeria to seal his place in the record books.

Ronaldo finished the season with an astonishing 40 goals, nine more than Barcelona star Lionel Messi. He will pick up the Liga top scorer’s award (Pichichi) as well as the European Golden Shoe.

Real scored 102 goals, the same tally as last season and seven more than champions Barcelona, who finished four points above them.

Ronaldo scored Real’s first and seventh goals, taking advantage of some appalling Almeria defending. In between, Emmanuel Adebayor – probably playing his last game for the whites before returning to Manchester City – netted three times and Karim Benzema twice. Youngster Joselu came off the bench to complete the rout.

Reserve goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek then said goodbye to the Estadio Bernabeu, which was in a exultant party mood.

Almeria, for their part, finished bottom with just 30 points. They go down together with Hercules – and a third team to be decided later Saturday. Six teams will be fighting to avoid the drop. Zaragoza, Deportivo Coruna, Getafe, Real Sociedad, Mallorca and Osasuna all need to win to guarantee their survival.