MADRID: Real Madrid boosted their hopes of catching Spanish leaders Barcelona by thrashing struggling Getafe 5-1 thanks to goals from forwards Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale and midfield pair Isco and James Rodriguez.

Benzema put a superior Madrid in charge just before the half hour make and then provided the pass for Isco to consolidate the advantage before half-time.

Bale netted a milestone 16th league goal of the season five minutes after the break, surpassing his previous best goals tally in the league from 2013-14, and James and Ronaldo further punished Getafe in the final minutes after Pablo Sarabia had pulled one back for the hosts.

Getafe sank to the bottom of the table after the defeat, the first game in charge for new coach Juan Esnaider, who replaced sacked Fran Escriba last week, while Madrid collected a seventh straight league win to put pressure on Barcelona at the top of the table and fellow title contenders Atletico.

Levante boosted their survival prospects with a come-from-behind win over Espanyol, whose 2-1 defeat at Estadi Ciutat de Valencia leaves them just eight points clear of the drop zone.

PSG hit six

In France Zlatan Ibrahimovic notched a brace to take his season tally to 32 Ligue 1 goals as Paris Saint-Germain responded to their Champions League disappointment with a thumping 6-0 defeat of sorry Caen.

The striker scored in both halves to ensure that his goal tally for this term would surpass any number of league goals scored previously throughout his glittering career in Sweden, Holland, Italy and Spain.

Blaise Matuidi, Edison Cavani, Angel Di Maria and Brazilian defender Maxwell all got in on the act too as the recently crowned champions ran riot at the Parc des Princes – four days after their Champions League exit at the hands of Manchester City.

Ten-man Lyon clung on to second place in the table as Alexandre Lacazette’s late goal forced a 1-1 draw with Nice.

In Italy Andrea Belotti’s penalty deep into stoppage time gave Torino a 1-0 win over Bologna in Serie A.

Toro recovered from back-to-back defeats to climb to 10th in the table after Belotti picked himself off the floor to calmly stroke home his 10th goal of the season.

Bologna, who are now without a win in their last eight games, could have taken the lead as Emanuele Giacherini hit a post and Juan Camilo Zuniga forced a save out of Daniele Padelli.

However the visitors claimed the win in the third minute of time added on when Domenico Maietta was adjudged to have dragged Belotti down and the striker made no mistake from the spot.

Carpi grabbed a vital win in their relegation battle as they came from behind to beat 10-man Genoa 4-1.

The Biancorossi had suffered back-to-back defeats in the league, leaving them level on points with 18th-placed Palermo, but three goals in the space of five minutes moved them clear of the bottom three.

Leonardo Pavoletti opened the scoring in the 34th minute, but Armando Izzo’s sending-off in the 45th minute proved the catalyst for a turnaround in first-half stoppage time.

After Izzo was dismissed for a second yellow card Antonio Di Gaudio’s acrobatic strike and Lorenzo Lollo’s goal put Carpi 2-1 in front before the break.

Lorenzo Pasciuti slotted home four minutes into the second half before Stefano Sabelli rounded off an impressive win from close-range late on.

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