Real Madrid brushed aside Espanyol 5-0 on Sunday to march on toward their first Spanish league title in four seasons with their 10th consecutive win.
Madrid dominated throughout, barely breaking a sweat in a commanding victory that restored their 10-point lead over defending champion Barcelona.
Cristiano Ronaldo took advantage of a defensive error by Espanyol to open the scoring with his league-leading 30th goal.
German midfielder Sami Khedira added another before halftime.
Gonzalo Higuain then scored twice and Kaka also found the net in the second half to seal Madrid’s 12th win in 13 league games at Santiago Bernabeu stadium this season.
“We knew we needed to maintain our lead in the table,” said Higuain.
“We are happy not only with the victory but with the way we went about earning it.”
Earlier, Athletic Bilbao prepared for their Europa League clash with Manchester United by beating Real Sociedad 2-0 thanks to a double from Markel Susaeta.
Marcelo provided Madrid’s first glimpses of danger with his incursions down the left flank in an otherwise lacklustre start for his team that had more offside decisions go against it than scoring chances.
But as slow as Madrid began, Espanyol’s nerves led them to lose the ball again and again due to pressure, and it was just a matter of time before the hosts went ahead.
Mesut Oezil latched on to Espanyol defender Raul Rodriguez’s poor pass and linked with Higuain, who slipped the ball for Ronaldo alone in the area to rifle home the 23rd-minute opener for his 38th goal in all competitions.
Ronaldo, who has scored in his past five outings overall, is on pace to break his own league record of 40 goals set last season.
“It was a night to forget,” Espanyol coach Mauricio Pochettino said.
“I leave frustrated because we didn’t compete, because we gave in early on with mistakes we don’t usually make.”
Bilbao’s victory in the lively Basque derby extended their home unbeaten run to six games and provisionally lifted them into fourth place.
Susaeta put Bilbao ahead in the 25th and secured the result with a superb free kick in the 81st as Bilbao rose two points clear of Levante, who play Real Betis on Monday.
“This was a game every player dreams of,” said Susaeta, who has scored 10 goals in all competitions this season.
“We played well in the first half but, in the second half, our pressure fell off and they gave us problems until the second goal.”
The Basque team play at Man United on Thursday for the first leg of their round-of-16 series.
Elsewhere, Sofiane Feghouli’s first-half goal gave Valencia a hard-fought 1-0 win at Granada as they reinforced their hold on third place, while last-placed Zaragoza scored two late on to beat Villarreal 2-1.
