Ronaldo's double against Malmo on Wednesday were goals 500 and 501 of his career, and he joins Raul as the club's joint-leading scorer on 323 for Real - having played 419 games fewer.

It came a day after Poland striker Lewandowski scored a hat-trick against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League, making it 10 in three games for him. He scored twice in Saturday's 3-0 win at Mainz and five times in eight minutes 59 seconds as a second-half substitute in the 5-1 victory over Wolfsburg last week. That quintet included the fastest hat-trick in Bundesliga history - three minutes 22 seconds.

The 27-year-old has also become the fastest foreign player to 100 goals in the Bundesliga.

But while the pair are setting new standards for forwards, they need to go some way to match the achievements of some of these goal machines.

1,000 club

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pele, won three World Cups with Brazil and is widely considered the best player of all time.

He also holds the record for the most career goals scored with 1,279 in 1,363 games, from 7 September 1956 to 1 October 1977.

Pele's most prolific year was 1959, when he scored 126 goals.

A special mention goes to fellow Brazilian Romario, who in 2007 in a Brazilian league match, celebrated what he said was his 1,000th goal, according to his "personal count".

Romario's total included 77 goals he scored at youth level and a further 21 in friendly and testimonial matches.

Then there is Brazilian Arthur Friedenreich, who according to the Guinness Book of World Records scored an undocumented 1,329 goals in 26 years between 1909 and 1935, a feat not recognised by Fifa.

Most goals in a match

Oceania it seems is a playground for prolific strikers.

In July, Jean Kaltack scored 16 goals for South Pacific country Vanuatu   in a 46-0 win over Micronesia in an Olympic qualifying tournament. Unfortunately for Kaltack, his feat does not stand up as a bona fide world record because it came in an under-23 tournament.

As far as full internationals go, Archie Thompson holds the world record for a match with 13 strikes, including eight before half-time, as Australia beat American Samoa 31-0 in a World Cup qualifier in 2001.

On the domestic front, Cypriot striker Panagiotis Pontikos scored a record 16 goals for SEK Ayios Athanasios FC in the Greek third division in 2007.

But his tally only equalled the feat first achieved  by Stephan Stanis , who managed the same number for Racing Club in a French Cup match against Aubry Asturies in 1942.

Former England centre forward Joe Payne still holds the record for most goals in a Football League match with 10 in Luton Town's 12-0 victory against Bristol Rovers in 1936.

Quick off the mark

Nawaf Al Abed is believed to hold the record  for the fastest goal in football, scoring just 2.4 seconds after kick-off.

The midfielder netted with a 60-yard lob after being passed the ball by an Al Hilal team-mate in a game against Al Shoalah in Saudi Arabia in 2009.

Guinness World Records do not have an entry for the fastest goal ever scored but in 2004 the Football Association confirmed amateur footballer Marc Burrows had netted the quickest they were aware of.

Burrows, playing for Cowes Sports FC on the Isle of Wight, scored against Eastleigh Reserves in two-and-a-half seconds in 2004.

Nicklas Bendtner did not leave a great goalscoring legacy when he left Arsenal for Wolfsburg last year.

But the Denmark striker still holds the record for the fastest goal by a substitute in the Premier League, scoring in six seconds against Tottenham in 2007.

(BBC)