MADRID: Gareth Bale scored twice and Cristiano Ronaldo notched a hat-trick as Real Madrid thrashed Sevilla 7-3 on Wednesday night in their league clash.
Bale was making his first start at the Santiago Bernabeu and made an immediate impact as he put the hosts 2-0 up within half an hour.
Ronaldo then added a third, but Sevilla fought back through an Ivan Rakitic penalty and Carlos Bacca.
Bale then set up Karim Benzema and Ronaldo to put Real 5-2 ahead before Rakitic replied once more with a stunning strike for Sevilla, although he was to blot his copybook by missing a penalty later.
Ronaldo went on to complete his hat-trick and Benzema rounded off the scoring after Sevilla had been reduced to 10 men when Stephane Mbia was sent-off with 14 minutes remaining.
Xabi Alonso also made his first appearance of the season as a second-half substitute to round off a fine evening for Madrid.
And he believes Bale’s brace could be his launching pad to take La Liga by storm.
Real boss Carlo Ancelotti had made four changes to the side that lost 2-1 to Barcelona at the weekend with Benzema restored to the number nine role between Ronaldo and Bale in attack.
And the Frenchman proved his worth in the move for the opener as he raced onto Isco’s pass before cutting the ball back for Bale to fire high into the net on his favoured left foot.
AFP
