Real Madrid 3-1 Getafe: 5 Talking Points

Full-time score: Real Madrid 3-1 Getafe

Goal-scorers: Gareth Bale 24', Cristiano Ronaldo 45+1', 78' (Real Madrid), Francisco Portillo 65' Penalty (Getafe); Bookings: Loic Remy 47' (Red)

Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid side brushed off their disappointment from last week against Espanyol with a convincing 3-1 win over rivals Getafe here at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday. Despite coming into the game in the wake of a shock defeat against Catalan outfit Espanyol, the Los Blancos started the game as favourites and looked pretty much the same throughout the game.

The floodgates were opened in the 24th minute when Isco and Sergio Ramos contested for a cross inside the visitors' penalty area only for the ball to fall kindly to Gareth Bale, who drilled home comfortably with his left-foot. Cristiano Ronaldo put the hosts 2-0 ahead just before half-time with a well-executed finish after a glorious pass from Karim Benzema to find the Portuguese in the first place.

The second half sprung into life when Loic Remy was given the marching orders for a second yellow card offence in the 47th minute. Francisco Portillo restored some hope for the visitors with a goal in the 65th minute but Getafe struggled to inspire a comeback with a numerical disadvantage on their back.

Ronaldo added a third goal for the hosts on the night with a thumping header in the 78th minute before being replaced by Marco Asensio shortly thereafter. Without further delay, let's take a closer look at the five major talking points from the game:

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#1 Ronaldo beats Messi to La Liga milestone

Ronaldo grabbed two goals for himself last night

Getafe have somewhat been Cristiano Ronaldo's favourite personal whipping boys ever since he started plying his trade in Spain back in 2009. In the build-up to the game, the Portuguese sensation had scored 21 goals against Madrid's local rivals including in each of his last seven matches.

Ronaldo made it eight when he doubled the Los Blancos' lead just before half-time to reach the unique milestone of 300 La Liga career goals, achieved only by Lionel Messi before him, and astonishingly the Real Madrid talisman took 48 games lesser than his Argentine counter-part who achieved the same after 334 games, compared to Ronaldo's 286 in the Spanish top division.

Even at the age of 33, Ronaldo continues to break records and his determination to succeed is often unparalleled. After a relatively slow start to the season, the brace against Getafe takes the forward's goal tally to 16 in the league - slowly catching up with top-scorer Messi, who has found the back of the net 23 times already this season.

#2 Loic Remy's nightmare continues

Remy was sent off after being involved in an incident with Nacho

Ever since falling off the radar at Chelsea, things haven't been all that smooth for Loic Remy. The Frenchman has struggled to find his feet in Spain since signing up for UD Las Palmas after being released by Chelsea in 2017.

Despite showing a lot of positive signs in his first few games for Las Palmas, Remy had a fallout with head coach Paco Jemez that resulted in the striker seeking a move away from the club at the very next opportunity.

"He treated me like a piece of s***," admitted a furious Remy who was punished by the coach for coming a minute late to the team dinner. Soon he was shipped out on loan to Getafe, where he is yet to find the back of the net after making 6 appearances for the club this term.

Remy would have hoped for some luck against one of the giants in European football but he was handed no favours whatsoever when the referee decided that his arm that went up against Nacho in an altercation shortly after the restart was enough for him to earn himself an early shower courtesy of a second yellow card.

#3 BBC get back to their best

The trio were almost unstoppable on the night

Real Madrid's front three of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo (BBC) were at their influential best as the Los Blancos romped home to a convincing victory against their city rivals on the night.

Bale opened the scoring after pouncing on the perfect opportunity that fell inside the visitors' penalty area while Benzema combined effectively with Ronaldo to add more to Real Madrid's goal tally. The disappointment that has been surrounding the defending champions' current campaign and their inability to compete with a ruthless FC Barcelona for the title has certainly asked some questions about the ability of the players including the star names that form BBC.

The performance surely sends a message to anyone who believes that the trio is certainly not at the best of their abilities at this point of time. The Los Blancos will be banking on the form of their key players if they are to salvage something at least from what has turned out to be a highly under-achieving season already.

#4 Gareth Bale celebrates historic occasion in style

Bale is currently the highest capped British player in La Liga

Gareth Bale surpassed David Beckham as the highest capped British player to have played in Spain when he made his 117th appearance for Real Madrid in La Liga during their 3-1 win against Getafe. The Welshman marked the occasion with a goal, his 10th in all competitions this term and made a strong cause for his inclusion in the club's crucial Champions League round of 16 second leg fixture against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek.

The performance is likely to boost Bale's credentials as an automatic starter against the Ligue 1 giants but the fact that Zidane allowed him to stay on till the full-time whistle is suspicious especially with PSG approaching in a few days.

It is unclear as to who out of Lucas Vazquez or Bale will start against PSG during midwee but the fact that the Welshman can provide you the x-factor on his day, like he did against Getafe, should put him in serious contention.

#5 Make or break time for Real Madrid

Real Madrid have a 2 goal advantage over Paris Saint-Germain

The UEFA Champions League is Real Madrid's last hope of salvaging something from what has turned out to be a massively disappointing campaign, one in which they have had to play catch up not just to arch-rivals Barcelona but against teams including city rivals Atletico Madrid and Valencia, who have now emerged as new forces in Spanish football.

Real Madrid are currently 12 points adrift of Barcelona, who are scheduled to play Atletico tomorrow in what could be a potential title decider. The result is unlikely to spark any sense of optimism among the Los Blancos faithful who already believe that they are out of the title race.

The shock Copa del Rey exit to CD Leganes back in January added further insult to the European champions' disappointing campaign and they are now left with a crucial round-of-16 second leg fixture against Paris Saint-Germain.

Zinedine Zidane's men lead the tie 3-1 on aggregate thanks to a commanding performance at the Bernabeu but they travel to Parc des Princes in two days time to try and ensure smooth qualification to the next round.