Ronaldo strikes twice in easy win

The champion's star man may have felt sad in the capital at the start of the season but he continues to show his importance to Madrid as he struck twice and set up the second of Gonzalo Higuain's brace.

Some poor home defending ensured Real was quickly on course for victory as Higuain opened the scoring after eight minutes before Ronaldo continued his hot streak with 22 minutes gone.

The former Manchester United man then set up Higuain on 70 minutes to make the game safe before stabbing home his side's fourth moments later.

Substitute Jose Maria Callejon added further gloss to the scoreline when he tapped home in stoppage time.

Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid kept pace with Barcelona at the top of the Primera Division with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Osasuna at the Vicente Calderon.

Two goals in four minutes just after the half-hour mark from Miranda and Raul Garcia had Diego Simeone's men in a commanding position, but Roland Lamah reduced the arrears just before half-time with a lovely curling effort from outside the area.

However, it seemed only a matter of time before Radamel Falcao would get his customary goal and he made it 17 in his past 11 games for club and country with a controlled volley from Juanfran's cross.

Atletico has now won 12 games in a row in all competitions and moved level with Barca on 25 from a possible 27 points at the top.

Levante secured its fourth consecutive win in all competitions as a brace from Obafemi Martins and a goal from Pedro Rios downed Granada 3-1.

The Nigerian striker took advantage of some hesitant defending by Granada's Inigo Lopez to turn and fire low into the bottom corner on 12 minutes.

After a bright start to the second period, the ex-Newcastle forward doubled his tally thanks to more poor defending by the visitor, burrowing his way into the box to slip a shot underneath Tono.

Rios continued his own goalscoring run by notching his third goal in four days with a neat finish 17 minutes from time, before Youssef El-Arabi grabbed a consolation for the visitor with his third goal in as many games.

Antonio Juan Rodriguez and Alvaro Vazquez were both on-target to help Getafe to a 2-1 victory that extended Athletic Bilbao's wretched start to the season.

Juan Rodriguez broke the deadlock with an 11th-minute header and Vazquez put the visitor firmly en route to three points with a close-range finish just before the hour mark.

Mikel San Jose halved the deficit in added-on time but his strike came too late for Bilbao to push for an equaliser.

Marcelo Bielsa's men have now won just two of their opening nine domestic fixtures and are hovering just above the drop zone following their third defeat in a week.