Real Madrid moved level on 50 points with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga with a 5-0 win over basement side Real Betis.
Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema left Los Blancos with a 3-0 lead at the interval, before Angel di Maria and Alvaro Morata made it four and then five in the second period.
Here, Sports Mole dissects the 90 minutes of action between the two Spanish sides.
Match statistics
Real Betis
Shots: 7
On target: 1
Possession: 37%
Corners: 0
Fouls: 18
Real Madrid
Shots: 21
On target: 11
Possession: 63%
Corners: 7
Fouls: 13
Was the result fair?
Betis were lucky to escape with a five-goal loss this afternoon, which is a quite incredible statement to make. The home side did start positively, but were simply second best from the moment Los Blancos moved into the lead. Betis simply could not deal with the pace and movement from their opponents, while they struggled to create openings against a Madrid side that has now kept five clean sheets in a row in all competitions.
Real Betis's performance
In truth, how Betis fare this season is not going to depend on their results against the likes of Madrid, but they simply must start picking up points at this stage of the campaign. They decided to force the issue in the early stages, but could not maintain that level of intensity when they fell behind. The loss means that they remain seven points from safety having played one game more than the teams around them. Credit must be given to their supporters, however, who continued to back the team despite their obvious struggles.
Real Madrid's performance
It would be fair to say that Carlo Ancelotti's side were inconsistent in the early part of the season, but they now look an extremely well-drilled outfit. The simple fact is that they will always score goals due to their abundance of attacking talent, but they have now closed up in defence with five clean sheets on the bounce. The fact that they didn't need to leave second gear and still managed to score five on the road is a serious message to Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, who both play tomorrow evening.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Luka Modric: The Croatian did not get his name on the scoresheet this afternoon like five of his teammates, but he was just sensational in the middle of the park. Everything good about Madrid's performance came through the midfielder, who is now a key member of their first XI. He is thriving in central midfield alongside the combative Xabi Alonso.
Biggest gaffe
Ruben Castro had a wonderful chance to open Betis's tally in the first period, but he could not convert from close range following bright work from on-loan Atletico Madrid forward Leo Baptistao on the right. In truth, it would have mattered little in terms of the final result, but it would have given the home supporters something to cheer.
Referee performance
In truth, I doubt that Ignacio Iglesias will have an easier match to referee all season. There was hardly a challenge of note in an end-to-end first period, while the second 45 minutes also followed a similar pattern. The fact that we had such a free-flowing match is credit to the official, who was not interested in slowing the play unnecessarily.
What next?
Real Betis: La Liga's basement side return to league action away to Celta Vigo next Friday.
Real Madrid: Los Blancos are in Copa del Rey quarter-final action away to Espanyol next week, before facing Granada at the Santiago Bernabeu in La Liga next Saturday.
Matt Law
