Vinicius Junior fired Real Madrid to the top of La Liga with a brace in a 3-1 win over Villarreal on Saturday, while Kylian Mbappe was also on target.
Los Blancos moved two points clear of champions Barcelona, who visit Sevilla on Sunday, as they bounced back from last week’s derby drubbing with a victory.
Having returned from their long midweek trip to Kazakhstan, where they beat Kairat in the Champions League, Madrid turned their focus back to domestic matters.
Thrashed 5-2 by city rivals Atletico Madrid last weekend, Xabi Alonso’s side had plenty to prove against a strong Villarreal team, who are third.
Alonso brought Fede Valverde back into the team, playing him at right-back in the absence of the injured duo Dani Carvajal and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Madrid had the better of a slow-paced first half at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Teenage attacker Franco Mastantuono might have sent Los Blancos ahead, but Villarreal defender Renato Veiga blocked his shot after Mbappe cut the ball back to him.
At the other end, Thibaut Courtois saved superbly from Tani Oluwaseyi, who snuck in behind the centre-backs but could not beat Madrid’s Belgian goalkeeper.
Mastantuono, signed from River Plate in the summer, drilled narrowly wide of the near post before the break.
Los Blancos took the lead early in the second half through Vinicius, whose shot took a fortunate deflection off Santi Comesana and flew past the helpless Arnau Tenas.
Xabi Alonso brought on Jude Bellingham for the final 25 minutes, after benching him for the second game running following the Atletico debacle.
