2011–12 season

      

Real Madrid's pre-season began with a 4–1 victory over MLS team Los Angeles Galaxy, with goals from Callejón, Joselu, Ronaldo, and Benzema. Four days later Ronaldo scored a second half hat-trick in a 3–0 win against Guadalajara. Ronaldo's preseason performance was highly praised as world media kept hailing Ronaldo's extreme competitiveness and motivation, even during friendly matches. On August 17, 2011, Ronaldo scored his 100th goal with Real Madrid with a first-half equalizer against Barcelona in the second leg of the 2011 Spanish Supercup in the Camp Nou. On August 27, 2011, he opened the 2011–12 La Liga season with a hat-trick in a 6–0 win at Real Zaragoza.

 In the first weeks of September, Ronaldo's physical performance was subject to scrutiny by world media, after Castrol released a television film named "Ronaldo: Tested to the Limit" where he was put to test in several fields, including mental and physical. Conclusions from the movie and doctors on the weeks following claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo was one of the best athletes in the world, excelling in football and outstanding in almost every other category. Several sources drew comparisons between him and other top athletes, including sprinter Usain Bolt. On September 24 Ronaldo scored a hat-trick (including two penalties) in Real Madrid's 6–2 drubbing of Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabéu. This was his ninth La Liga hat-trick and tenth hat-trick for Real Madrid. On September 27 Ronaldo scored Real's opening goal in a 3–0 defeat of Ajax in the Champions League. On 22 October, after not scoring in his previous three games, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his tenth La Liga hat-trick and eleventh in total for Real Madrid in a match away to Málaga, which Real Madrid won 4–0. His twelfth Real Madrid hat-trick followed on 6 November, in a 7–1 victory over Osasuna that ensured Madrid stayed top of the table heading into the international break. On 19 November 2011, Ronaldo scored Real's second goal in a 2–3 defeat of Valencia. On November 26, 2011, Ronaldo scored two penalties in a 4–1 defeat of Atlético Madrid in the El Derbi madrileño. On 3 December 2011, Ronaldo scored Madrid's second goal in a 0–3 defeat of Sporting de Gijón in La Liga. He was one of the three finalists for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or. On December 13, 2011, Ronaldo scored the second goal against SD Ponferradina in the first leg of the Copa del Rey Round 4, the match ended in a 0–2 win. On December 17, 2011, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his twelfth La Liga hat-trick and thirteenth overall in a 6–2 win away to Sevilla.