Real Madrid bounced back from their defeat to Almeria with a resounding 7-0 victory over Valladolid to surge eight points clear at the top of the Spanish first division.

Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Sevilla on Saturday gave Real a chance to stretch their five-point lead and they made light work of Valladolid, thanks to four goals in 13 minutes.

Dutch international Arjen Robben’s first goal in Real’s colours, a brace from captain Raul, taking his season’s tally to 11, and efforts from Julio Baptista and Guti gave Real a 5-0 first-half lead on Sunday.

Guti added his second and Roysten Drenthe scored his first league goal after the interval as Real, who have won all their matches at the Santiago Bernabeu this season, cruised to victory.

The 7-0 demolition was not Real’s biggest ever league win with Elche routed 11-2 back in the 1959/ 60 season.
“When there is an emergency the team responds and that is the biggest positive to take from today,” said Real coach Bernd Schuster.

“We try to play down the flanks with a lot of pace and with Robben and Robinho, we have that option. That is where most of our goals came from.

“It is not normal to win 7-0 and we have to enjoy the games like this.”

Earlier, Atletico Madrid took a giant stride towards the Champions League with a 2-0 win over rivals Racing Santander moving them back into the top four.

Uruguayan international Diego Forlan scored both second half goals as Atletico Madrid, who had collected just one point from the last nine, took the spoils in Santander.