MADRID — Gareth Bale scored twice and Cristiano Ronaldo notched a hat trick as Real Madrid thrashed Sevilla 7-3 Wednesday 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 10 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. “We too needed to get to know him, but I am sure that he will keep improving.” Real boss Carlo Ancelotti had made four changes to the side that lost 2-1 to Barcelona at the weekend with Benzema restored to the No. 9 role between Ronaldo and Bale in attack. And it clicked. Ronaldo stepped up to fire home and celebrated with a military salute in a mocking response to Sepp Blatter's description of him as a “commander” last week. Earlier, Almeria rallied from a goal down to beat Valencia 2-1 and record its first win of the season. Also, Real Sociedad goalkeeper Claudio Bravo saved Patrick Ebert's stoppage time penalty to preserve a 2-2 draw at Valladolid, and Osasuna beat up Rayo Vallecano 3-1. Madrid is on 25 points. Barcelona, which won 3-0 at Celta Vigo Tuesday, leads with 31 points. Atletico Madrid has 27 points. “I felt good and completed the full game. After not having a normal pre-season it is important to pick up rhythm to be able to give my best,” Bale told Real Madrid TV. “It was a great night. Obviously I needed time to improve physically, but I am very happy to have played the 90 minutes. That is very important for my fitness. “We played very well tonight and hopefully we will have more games like this in the future. “Now I need to keep improving and working hard to be at 100 percent as soon as possible.” Kaka strikes Kaka scored his first goal since returning to AC Milan at the start of the season in their 1-1 draw against Lazio in Serie A Wednesday. The Brazilian, back at San Siro after four unhappy seasons with Real Madrid, gave Milan the lead in the 54th minute with a delightful curling effort. Lazio replied with a goal from defender Michael Ciani, leaving Milan in a modest 10th place with 12 points from 10 games. Champion Juventus, helped by a trademark Andrea Pirlo free kick, trounced Catania 4-0 to stay level on points with second-placed Napoli who controversially won 2-1 at Fiorentina. Napoli and Juventus both have 25 points with Napoli, two behind AS Roma. — Agencies
