Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a hat-trick
as Real Madrid thrashed Real Sociedad 5-2 in La Liga on Saturday to warm up for
their Champions League clash with Paris St Germain in style.
Atletico Madrid saw off Malaga 1-0
in a tight game to provisionally close the gap on leaders Barcelona to six
points.
Real's big victory over Sociedad
took them third above Valencia but they trail Barcelona by 16 points as they
turn their attention to the defence of their Champions League title against
Paris St Germain at the Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Zinedine Zidane rested Casemiro and
Gareth Bale with one eye on that, but the Welsh winger's replacement Lucas
Vazquez took full advantage when he headed home Ronaldo's cross after 49
seconds.
Karim Benzema struck the post with a
low effort as he failed to break his scoring drought, the French striker is now
without a league goal since November, as Real pressed to add to their
advantage.
They did just that after 27 minutes
when a brilliant turn by Asensio unlocked Sociedad's defence and Marcelo
crossed for Ronaldo to slam home from close range.
Toni Kroos curled home the third
from outside the area and Ronaldo headed home Luka Modric's corner in a
four-minute spell before the interval.
The Portuguese forward completed his
treble after Geronimo Rulli beat away substitute Bale's long-range effort. Jon
Bautista and Asier Illaramendi netted consolation goals for Real Sociedad.
In Malaga, second-placed Atletico
went ahead almost instantly when Antoine Griezmann capitalised on Saul Niguez's
deflected strike falling at his feet close to goal.
Jan Oblak saved a Roberto Rosales
free kick in the second half as Atletico kept their opponents at bay to earn a
narrow victory in typical fashion.
Malaga, rooted to the bottom of the
table, have picked up two points in their last eight games.
"We started very strongly,
taking advantage of our opponent being off balance and we could score a goal
which put us ahead," Atletico coach Diego Simeone told reporters.
"It was an intense game, we
were always putting the work in. We take with us a very important victory.
"The team is rejuvenated, it
still has enormous hope, that's clear to see. Everyone has played a lot of
minutes, that's why we are where we are, because the team worked well."
Alaves continued their good form
under Abelardo, winning 2-1 at fifth-place Villarreal to climb to 16th and
seven points above the relegation zone while Eibar moved sixth thanks to a 1-0
win at Leganes as Ivan Ramis scored deep into stoppage-time.
© Reuters
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