La Liga wrap: Real, Atletico win

Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid warmed up for next weekend’s Copa Del Rey final with convincing La Liga victories.

Real hammered nine-man Malaga 6-2 with a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired performance at the Bernabeu, while Atletico beat Celta Vigo 3-1 on the road.

Raul Albiol opened the scoring for Madrid before Roque Santa Cruz equalised for the visitors.

Things went from bad to worse for Malaga as Sergio Sanchez was sent off, before Ronaldo made up for a missed penalty by scoring his 200th Real Madrid goal from an indirect free-kick to make it 2-1.

Mesut Oezil and Karim Benzema put further daylight between Madrid and their opposition towards the end of the first-half, sandwiched between a brief Malaga fightback courtesy of a goal from Vitorino Antunes.

Luka Modric effectively put the game beyond any doubt by scoring Madrid’s fifth in the second half.

Martin Demichelis was sent off for a second bookable offence before substitute Angel Di Maria capped a fine team display by making it 6-2 in stoppage time.

Atletico guaranteed themselves a top-three La Liga finish with three second-half goals against relegation-threatened Celta Vigo.

After a goalless first half, the game sprung into life as Diego Costa headed the visitors ahead from close range.

Juanfran Torres doubled Atletico’s lead with a deflected effort from outside the box, before Augusto Fernandez pulled a goal back for the hosts.

That Fernandez strike proved a mere consolation though as Radamel Falcao made sure of all three points with Madrid’s third and final goal a matter of minutes later.