High five! Ronaldo leads Real rout after showing off Ballon d'Or

Real Madrid needed a performance like this one. Zinedine Zidane's side have struggled at home in 2017-18 and dropped too many points in La Liga, but Saturday's 5-0 was both impressive and emphatic. This was much more like it from Los Blancos.

Cristiano Ronaldo showed off his five Ballons d'Or before kick off, the latest of which he claimed on Thursday night. And five was the number of the afternoon as Madrid hit the same number of goals past Sevilla - all in a one-sided first 45 minutes.

From the visitors' point of view, this was a disaster. The Andalusians had the chance to go above Real in the table with a win in this match, but defensively they were all at sea, leaving vast spaces for Madrid's attackers, and they rarely troubled their rivals at the other end - that despite a number of absences for the home team.

With Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal and Casemiro all suspended and Raphael Varane out injured, it looked like Madrid might be shaky at the back. But instead, it was Sevilla shipping goals left, right and centre.

Madrid had been held by Levante and Valencia at the Bernabeu this season, as well as losing to Betis, but took a quick lead in this one through Nacho after he was inadvertently set up by Sevilla striker Luis Muriel from a corner.

Ronaldo was clearly in the mood as well. The Portuguese started the day with just two Liga goals to his name all season, but went on to double that tally after a composed finish following a fantastic run by Marco Asensio and a second from the penalty spot.

He was back in the groove and so were his team-mates, with further strikes from Toni Kroos and a first for the young right-back Achraf Hakimi later in the first half. What had looked like a potential banana skin for Real had turned into a party for the home fans by the interval and the second period was of little importance in the end.

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The win sees Madrid move provisionally to within five points of fierce rivals Barcelona, in action away to Villarreal in the Primera Division on Sunday night, and is a big boost for Zidane's side as they jet off to Abu Dhabi for the Club World Cup on Sunday.

The French coach will have been happy to see his formation - a 4-4-2 system with Luka Modric and Kroos in the centre; the excellent Asensio and Lucas Vazquez as wide men - come up trumps, with Karim Benzema dropping deep and Ronaldo often alone further forward.

It is another alternative for Zidane, although most visiting sides will not be so soft as Sevilla on Saturday. In any case, this was a morale-boosting win for Los Blancos and Ronaldo firing again in La Liga is good news.

Five golden balls at the Bernabeu and five golden goals for a resurgent Real Madrid.