MADRID, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid extended their lead at the top of La Liga to four points over Atletico Madrid with a comfortable 3-0 win away to Valladolid while Atletico were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Villarreal.
Kylian Mbappe scored his first hat-trick for Madrid on Saturday as they cruised past their bottom of the table rivals.
Jude Bellingham exchanged passes with Mbappe ahead of the opening goal after half an hour and in the 55th minute, it was 2-0 as Mbappe added his second after good word from Rodrygo.
The Frenchman's third of the game came in the closing minutes after Madrid were awarded their 10th penalty of the season.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone made several changes to his side to face Villarreal, with the visitors taking the lead after Reinildo was penalized from bringing down Villarreal striker, Gerard Moreno, who scored from the penalty spot.
Samuel Lino saved a point for Atletico from close-range, but Atletico were unable to break down a packed Villarreal defense in the last half-hour.
FC Barcelona moved to three points of Atletico after they returned to winning ways at home with a 7-1 thrashing of struggling Valencia Sunday.
Frenkie de Jong opened the scoring in the second minute after a pass from Lamine Yamal, with Ferran Torres doubling the lead as he flicked in a corner in the ninth minute.
The game was as good as over in the 13th minute when Raphinha ran into space, rounded Giorgi Mamardashvili and slipped the ball into an empty net.
Fermin Lopez added a fourth after 25 minutes after springing the Valencia offside trap and he tapped in the fifth on the stroke of halftime.
Hugo Duro pulled a goal back for Valencia in the 58th minute, but there was no respite with Robert Lewandowski (a substitute on Sunday) scored Barca's sixth from a narrow angle and Cesar Tarrega deflected a cross into his own net to make it 7-1 with 15 minutes still to play to confirm Valencia's worst defeat since the 1931/32 season.
Athletic Club Bilbao were frustrated by an excellent defensive display by Leganes in their 0-0 draw in San Mames.
Athletic had 29 shots and 15 corners in the game, but only had three efforts on target, while Leganes almost sneaked a win as their two shots in the game both hit the woodwork.
Getafe produced a smash-and-grab act with two goals in two minutes on their way to a 3-0 win away to Real Sociedad.
Christantus Uche put Getafe ahead in the 70th minute after a pass from Carles Perez and two minutes later Perez doubled the visitors' lead with a powerful volley.
He then made it 3-0 with five minutes left after Uche pulled the ball back for him to score with ease.
Rayo Vallecano substitute, Randy Nketa was his side's hero with two goals in the last 10 minutes of their 2-1 win at home to Girona.
Bryan Gil's 58th minute goal looked as if it was going to give the visitors all three points, but Nketa came off the bench in the 77th minute and just three minutes later he scrambled in the equalizer after a pass from Alvaro Garcia.
The pair combined again just three minutes later to extend Rayo's unbeaten run to seven games in LaLiga and put them in the race to qualify for Europe.
Cedric Bakambu's 97th minute header gave Betis a much-needed win away to Mallorca, who were reduced to 10 men after 70 minutes when Omar Mascarell was shown a slightly rigorous red card.
Espanyol drew 1-1 away to Sevilla, with Marash Kumbulla stabbing home for the visitors after a corner, before Loric Bade curled home Sevilla's equalizer from outside of the penalty area.
On Friday night, Adnan Januzaj's 98th minute free kick saved a point for Las Palmas and denied Osasuna their first win in nine games after Aimar Oroz had deservedly put the visitors ahead early in the second half. ■
