MADRID - Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti lauded Cristiano Ronaldo's killer instinct in front of goal after the Portuguese scored his 23rd hat-trick for Los Blancos in a 8-2 rout at Deportivo la Coruna on Saturday.

MADRID - Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti lauded Cristiano Ronaldo's killer instinct in front of goal after the Portuguese scored his 23rd hat-trick for Los Blancos in a 8-2 rout at Deportivo la Coruna on Saturday.

"We showed the quality we have. We have a phenomenon in Ronaldo and we have other players with great quality," said Ancelotti.

"They combined very well together and that was the best thing we can take from the game."

Ancelotti's men were under pressure to return to winning ways in La Liga after two consecutive defeats to Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid.

Real had responded with a 5-1 thrashing of Basel to open their Champions League campaign in midweek.

However, despite their free-scoring form, Ancelotti insisted finding the right balance between defence and attack remains his primary objective as they have now conceded seven times in their last three league outings.

"Right now we are not thinking about that. We are thinking about fixing the problems we have and we are doing that well.

"The season is very long and recovering points on the leaders just now isn't the problem. We have to improve.

"After two defeats we have scored 13 goals and that is a good sign that we have responded well."

After Ronaldo had opened the scoring, James Rodriguez doubled Real's advantage with a sumptuous left-footed strike before Ronaldo made it 3-0.

Gareth Bale added a second-half double and after Ronaldo had completed his hat-trick, on-loan Manchester United star Javier Hernandez grabbed his first two goals for the club. - AFP