Madrid, Oct 6 (IANS): Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo praised his teammate Karim Benzema in the wake of his side's 5-0 win at home to Athletic Club Bilbao.

Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in the win Sunday, his third of the season to date, and the 22nd he has scored in Spain, while Benzema, who has been struggling for goals, added two more in an excellent all round team performance, reports Xinhua.

"We're getting better," said Ronaldo.

"We need to keep improving in certain areas on the pitch and we still have areas to work on, but this was a great team performance, scoring five and keeping a clean-sheet. We're all very happy," he commented.

Benzema came in for criticism following a poor run of scoring form, which saw him net only one goal in 13 encounters, but he recently began finding the net again to add goals to his impressive creative place around the rival penalty area.

"I'm delighted for him. He's the best forward in La Liga and one of the best in the world. The criticisms he receives are part of being a professional footballer and we need to rise above them," said Ronaldo.

Real Madrid now go into the international break in fourth place, four points behind league leaders FC Barcelona, who they face in the Santiago Bernabeu Oct 25.