A review of the weekend's action in Spain's Primera Liga, with Barcelona hitting six and Cristiano Ronaldo netting a hat-trick.
Barcelona made light of the early kick-off time as they continued their seemingly unstoppable march towards the Primera Division title with an emphatic 6-1 victory over Getafe at the Nou Camp.
Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring with his first goal of the season after less than six minutes and Lionel Messi celebrated putting pen to paper on his two-year contract extension earlier this week by notching - for the 13th straight game in La Liga - on 13 minutes.
David Villa's neat finish made it 3-0 in the 57th minute and substitute Cristian Tello added another 11 minutes from time. Getafe substitute Alvaro Vazquez then grabbed a consolation for the visitors but there was still time for Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique to add further gloss to the scoreline for the hosts.
First half strikes from Alhassane Bangouraan and Leo Baptistao saw Rayo Vallecano to a 2-1 victory in the Madrid derby against Atletico.
Second-placed Atletico - who had lost just one of their last 10 - were never in the game with Radamel Falcao's last-gasp strike a mere consolation, while defensively their inability to stop and defend crosses into the box was their downfall.
In contrast, Rayo defended bravely and showed why they are so imperious at home, with an impressive attacking display to register their fifth victory in their last six matches at the Estadio Teresa Rivero.
Espanyol climbed above Athletic Bilbao as they capitalised on a miserable day for the Basque side with a 4-0 win.
Athletic had plenty of chances and possession but no luck and Espanyol took full advantage with goals from Hector Moreno, Victor Sanchez, Christian Stuani and Joan Verdu.
Bilbao also lost Iker Muniain and Ibai Gomez to injury as a three-match unbeaten run ended abruptly.
Real Sociedad boosted their push for a Europa League place as goals from Antoine Griezmann and Imanol Agirretxe saw off Real Zaragoza 2-1.
Zaragoza left-back Hector endured a nightmare league debut, sent off for two bookable offences after only 22 minutes to deal his team, already a goal down, a blow from which they would not recover.
Griezmann had opened the scoring after 11 minutes and Agirretxe doubled it shortly after the hour mark, with Zaragoza made to wait until deep in injury time for Apono to get their goal from the penalty spot.
The defeat means Manolo Jimenez's side retain their status as the Primera Division's worst team at home this season.
On Saturday, Cristiano Ronaldo fired an ominous warning to former club Manchester United with a hat-trick as Real Madrid warmed up for their Champions League showdown against the Red Devils with a one-sided 4-1 victory over Sevilla at the Bernabeu.
Matches against Sevilla have proved rich pickings for Ronaldo and this was no different as he followed up Karim Benzema's 18th-minute opener with goals in the 26th, 46th and 59th minutes as Madrid sauntered to victory .
That took his tally of hat-tricks for the Spanish giants to an incredible 20 before he was replaced in the 63rd minute as Jose Mourinho opted to wrap his trump card in cotton wool ahead of Wednesday's visit of United in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 clash.
Soon after Ronaldo's departure Madrid were reduced to 10 men when striker Gonzalo Higuain was sent off but Sevilla also finished with a men less after losing Hedwiges Maduro to a red card with nine minutes left.
Sevilla did net a late consolation through Manu del Moral but it mattered little.
Granada, who stunned Mourinho's men last weekend with a 1-0 win courtesy of a Ronaldo own goal, continued where they left off against the champions as they trounced Deportivo La Coruna 3-0 at the Riazor.
Carlos Marchena's own goal on the stroke of half-time set the visitors on their way and Ighalo's strike six minutes after the restart doubled their advantage.
Depor then missed a number of chances to get themselves back into the game and their night was summed up when they conceded a dubious penalty - converted by Guilherme Siqueira - in the last minute and saw Manuel Pablo sent off.
Isco scored twice as Malaga moved back into fourth place in the Primera Division on the back of a 2-1 victory at fellow European hopefuls Levante.
Malaga were looking to avenge last season's 3-0 reverse at the Estadi Ciutat de Valencia but the plan went off the rails when Jose Barkero put the home side in front with a 27th-minute penalty.
Isco restored parity through a spot-kick in the 37th minute and then sealed the points with a neat finish just after the restart.
An injury-time equaliser by Pedro Geromel gave Mallorca a vital 1-1 draw against Osasuna at the Iberostar stadium on Saturday.
Lolo had given the visitors the lead with 15 minutes remaining in the game and looked to have handed Gregorio Manzano the worst possible start to his third spell in charge of the club.
Manzano was named as the club's new coach last week following the sacking of Joaquin Caparros and was given a lukewarm reception by the home crowd.
But the hosts finally got the goal their efforts deserved in the 92nd minute, when Osasuna failed to clear and Geromel headed home.
The draw meant that Mallorca and Osasuna remain in the same league position, 19th and 17th respectively, before the match begun but the performance will give Manzano some hope that he can lead his new side to safety.
A last-gasp goal by substitute Nelson Valdez gave Valencia a 1-0 victory over Celta Vigo at Balaidos.
The result is the perfect springboard for Ernesto Valverde's side ahead of their Champions League match with Paris St Germain on Tuesday but it means that the Galicians are condemned to spending another week in the relegation zone.
Although the goal came late, Valencia were worthy winners of the game overall as they created the greater number of chances and had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside early in the second half.
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