Real hammer Sevilla, Valencia lose

Gareth Bale scored twice and Cristiano Ronaldo notched a hat-trick as Real Madrid thrashed Sevilla 7-3 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 ten 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. "He needed a settling in period to the league because it is different to the Premier League," Alonso said. "We too needed to get to know him, but I am sure that he will keep improving." Elsewhere in La Liga, Valencia lost 2-1 to Almeria at home, Real Valladolid and Real Sociedad played to a 2-2 draw, and Osasuna won 3-1 at home to Rayo Vallecano. Source: Fifa.com