Story highlights
Ronaldo hits a hat-trick and Bale a double as Real Madrid beat Sevilla 7-3
Napoli and Juventus close the gap on league leaders Roma in Italy
Monaco suffer first defeat of the season in French League Cup
Cristiano Ronaldo provided the perfect riposte to FIFA president Sepp Blatter after scoring a hat-trick as Real Madrid beat Sevilla 7-3 on a night when Gareth Bale grabbed his first goals at the Bernabeu.
Days after Blatter had made a bizarre impersonation of the Portuguese while saying the star spent “a lot of money at the hairdressers”, the 28-year-old scored his third career hat-trick against Sevilla to go top of the scoring charts in Spain with 11 goals.
He celebrated his first goal from the penalty spot with a military salute in a mocking response to Blatter’s description of him as a “commander” last week.
Read: Ronaldo reacts to Blatter jibes
The absorbing victory also allowed Real to put Saturday’s defeat by Barcelona behind them, not just because of the three points but also because Bale, the most expensive footballer in history, began to repay some of his fee.
Making his first start as a home player at the legendary Bernabeu, the Welshman scored twice, made another two and also managed to complete his first 90 minutes in his seventh appearance for Madrid.
Despite Bale’s largely anonymous display at Camp Nou, which was blamed on a lack of match practice, Real coach Carlo Ancelotti was wholly vindicated by his decision to keep faith in the 24-year-old, who curled home a fine opener before a free-kick was deflected in as he handed Real a 2-0 lead.
On a satisfying night for the hosts, for whom substitute Xabi Alonso made his first appearance of the season after injury, Karim Benzema also grabbed a brace as Real moved up to third in the table, six points behind Barca.
Sevilla were reduced to 10 men late on when Stephane Mbia received his second yellow card.
In Italy, both Napoli and Juventus closed the gap on Roma to just two points, but the league leaders can extend their lead – and register a perfect 10 victories from their opening 10 league games – when hosting bottom side Chievo on Thursday.
Goals from Jose Maria Callejon and Dries Mertens helped Napoli win 2-1 at Fiorentina, with both sides reduced to 10 men late on, while Andrea Pirlo and Carlos Tevez were among the goals as Juventus thumped Catania 4-0 at home.
Elsewhere, Brazilian Kaka scored his first goal since returning for AC Milan as the seven-time European champions were held to a 1-1 draw by visitors Lazio.
One of the most surprising results of the night came in France, where big spending Monaco suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of fellow Ligue 1 side Reims in the League Cup.
Fielding a weakened side that was deprived of the suspended Radamel Falcao, Monaco were knocked out of the cup after suffering their first defeat since May – as midfielder Antoine Devaux fired home in the first half.
Claudio Ranieri’s side travel to Lille, who have not conceded a goal in six league games, at the weekend in a battle of the two sides immediately behind Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the table.
In England, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City both progressed to the quarterfinals with respective victories over Hull City and Newcastle United.
City won 2-0 in extra-time thanks to goals from Alvaro Negredo and Edin Dzeko, while Spurs won through 8-7 on penalties after drawing 2-2 at home against Hull.
Spurs’ win capped a miserable week in London for Egypt’s Ahmed Elmohamady, who missed the decisive penalty just days after being penalized for a harsh handball in Tottenham’s 1-0 league win against the same opponents on Saturday.