Real Madrid bounced back from a four-game winless streak in emphatic fashion by hammering Real Betis 6-1 away from home to go second in La Liga on Saturday. Lionel Messi scored within three minutes of returning from injury to help fire champions Barcelona to a 4-0 home win over Deportivo La Coruna that kept them fourth, while Atletico Madrid retained top spot by thrashing bottom side Granada 7-1.
Sevilla left it late to win 3-2 at Leganes to stay third, claiming their first away win since May 2015.
Real travelled to Betis without key midfielders Luka Modric and Casemiro and captain Sergio Ramos through injury and without a win in four games in all competitions. Raphael Varane swiftly eased the pressure on under-fire coach Zinedine Zidane by heading home Toni Kroos's floated free kick in the fourth minute.
Karim Benzema rolled home another pass by Kroos in the 31st to put Real further at ease and they went into the halftime break four goals up after a strike from returning fullback Marcelo and a brilliant breakaway finished off by Isco.
Real Madrid's Isco celebrates after scoring against Real Betis
REUTERSThe Spain international curled in a brilliant strike in the 62nd and talisman Cristiano Ronaldo fittingly rounded off a statement of intent from the European champions by powering home in the 78th. Alvaro Cejudo had scored Betis's goal in the 55th minute.
In Barcelona, Brazilian midfielder Rafinha put Barca ahead in the 21st minute with the help of lax goalkeeping from Deportivo's German Lux and slid in the second goal in the 36th after the stopper failed to hold Gerard Pique's header.
Luis Suarez combined with Neymar to stretch Barca's lead two minutes before the break and substitute Messi latched on to a through ball from the Brazilian to stroke the ball high into the net in the 58th.
Former Barcelona forward Isaac Cuenca gave winless Granada a shock lead in the 18th minute with an impressive strike but Carrasco pulled Atletico in front with goals in the 34th and 45th, completing his treble in the 61st.
Atletico Madrid's Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco shoots to score a goal against Granada
REUTERSNicolas Gaitan scored his first goal for Atletico two minutes after coming off the bench, netting with his first touch, and struck again in the 81st, while late strikes from Angel Correa and midfielder Tiago completed the rout.
Earlier on Saturday, a late wonder strike from Pablo Sarabia ended Sevilla's 17-month wait for an away league win.
Franco Vazquez and Samir Nasri put Sevilla in charge but quick-fire strikes from David Timor and Alexander Szymanowski cancelled out their lead, only for Sarabia to smash in from outside the area with five minutes left.
RESULTS:Real Betis 1 Alvaro 55
Real Madrid 6 Raphael Varane 4, Karim Benzema 31, Marcelo 39, Isco 45,62, Cristiano Ronaldo 78
Atletico Madrid 7 Carrasco 34,45,61, Gaitan 63,81, Correa 85, Tiago 87
Granada CF 1 Cuenca 18
Barcelona 4 Rafinha 21,36, Suarez 43, Messi 58
Deportivo Coruna 0Leganes 2 Timor 67, Szymanowski 69
Sevilla 3 Vazquez 25, Nasri 58, Sarabia 85
Las Palmas 0 Espanyol 0Standings P W D L F A
Pts1 Atletico Madrid 8 5 3 0 21 3 18
2 Real Madrid 8 5 3 0 22 8 18
3 Sevilla 8 5 2 1 16 12 17
4 Barcelona 8 5 1 2 26 10 16
5 Villarreal 7 3 4 0 9 4 13
6 Las Palmas 8 3 3 2 16 13 12
7 Athletic Club 7 4 0 3 10 8 12
8 Eibar 7 3 2 2 9 7 11
9 Real Sociedad 7 3 1 3 9 9 10
10 Celta Vigo 7 3 1 3 9 11 10
11 Leganes 8 3 1 4 9 13 10
12 Alaves 7 2 3 2 8 7 9
13 Malaga 7 2 2 3 7 9 8
14 Deportivo Coruna 8 2 2 4 5 10 8
15 Real Betis 8 2 2 4 9 18 8
16 Espanyol 8 1 4 3 9 14 7
17 Sporting Gijon 7 2 1 4 6 16 7
18 Valencia 7 2 0 5 9 14 6
19 Osasuna 7 0 3 4 7 15 3
20 Granada CF 8 0 2 6 8 23 2