Bale settling in

Real Madrid 4

Bale 33′, 64′, 89′ Benzema 36′

Real Valladolid 0

• FT 90 +3
• HT 2-0

30 November 2013 Last updated at 21:22 GMT

1K

By Gary Rose BBC Sport

Gareth Bale scored his first hat-trick in a Real Madrid shirt as the Spanish giants comfortably beat Real Valladolid to move within three points of La Liga leaders Barcelona. 

Cristiano Ronaldo missed the game with injury, giving Bale the chance to take centre stage.
The 24-year-old did so in style as he nodded in the opener before setting up Karim Benzema to head in a second.
Bale sidefooted in Real's third before finishing from eight yards late on.
The Wales international takes his tally to nine goals in 13 appearances for Real since his £85m move from Tottenham in September.

"Gareth Bale has fully adapted to the team. He has a lot of confidence and is very important for us," said coach Carlo Ancelotti.
"I don't know if this was our best match so far, but we have to continue playing like this."

Bale settling in

Gareth Bale has scored seven goals in this La Liga season, one more than Mesut Ozil managed in his first campaign with Real Madrid
Source: Opta

Ronaldo's goalscoring exploits have dominated the headlines this season. The Portuguese forward has scored 32 goals in 22 appearances this season, but Real were denied his attacking threat for the visit of Valladolid as he sat out the game with a slight hamstring injury.

As a result a lot of the pre-match focus was on whether Bale would be able to step up in Ronaldo's absence.
Despite seeing plenty of the ball, Real took a little while to find their rhythm and although Angel Di Maria hit the crossbar, they did not force visiting keeper Diego Marino into a telling save during the opening exchanges.
However, there was little he could do when Bale opened the scoring just after the half hour mark. Di Maria forced Marino to push his stinging shot away, but he could only send the ball as far as Bale, who nodded in to the unguarded net.
Moments later Real scored a second with Bale this time providing the assist. He floated a fine ball to Benzema inside the box and the French forward powered a header beyond Marino.
Real Valladolid, 17th in La Liga with 12 points, offered little in the way of attacking threat but they had half a chance early in the second half when Carlos Pena drilled a low shot wide of Diego Lopez's goal.
The visitors went a little closer as Zakarya Bergdich forced Lopez into a low save, but any thoughts that Valladolid were getting back into the game were ended when Bale scored his second of the game.
Marcelo squared a low cross from the left that Jesus Rueda tried to stab away, but he only succeeded in sending the ball to the feet of Bale, who sidefooted in from 10 yards.
From then on the Valladolid players seemed resigned to defeat, with Real embarking on numerous attacks in pursuit of a fourth.
Alvaro Morata danced his way across the edge of the area before clipping a shot into the hands of Marino, who then pushed behind a low Isco effort.
But a fourth duly arrived in the closing stages, with Bale positioning himself perfectly in the box to be able to stab in Marcelo's cut back from close range.

Lineup, Bookings (2) & Substitutions (5)

Real Madrid

• 25 López
• 15 Carvajal
• 12 Marcelo
• 14 Alonso
• 03 Pepe Booked
• 04 Ramos
• 11 Bale
• 19 Modric
• 09 Benzema (Morata - 74' )
• 23 Isco
• 22 Di María (Jesé - 74' )

Substitutes

• 01 Casillas
• 16 Casemiro
• 18 Nacho
• 20 Jesé
• 21 Morata
• 24 Illarramendi
• 38 Llorente

Real Valladolid

• 13 Mariño
• 24 García
• 17 Peña
• 18 Rubio
• 04 Valiente
• 06 Rueda
• 16 Sastre Reus Booked (Osorio Botello - 85' )
• 05 Rossi
• 09 Guerra Rodríguez (Contreiras Gonçalves - 74' )
• 11 Larsson (Ramos Suárez - 45' )
• 21 Bergdich

Substitutes

• 01 Jiménez Merlo
• 02 Rukavina
• 03 Barmettler Veloz
• 07 Osorio Botello
• 08 Baraja
• 14 Ramos Suárez
• 23 Contreiras Gonçalves

Ref: Pedro Jesús Pérez Montero

Att: 68,655

Match Stats

Shots

26 9

On target

12 3

Corners

9 1

Fouls

6 8

Live Text Commentary

Full time

Full Time Match ends, Real Madrid 4, Real Valladolid 0.

90:00 +2:02 Full time

Full Time Second Half ends, Real Madrid 4, Real Valladolid 0.

90:00 +0:57 Corner, Real Madrid. Conceded by Diego Mariño.
90:00 +0:56 Attempt saved. Álvaro Morata (Real Madrid) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Jesé with a through ball.
88:39 Goal scored

Goal! Goal! Real Madrid 4, Real Valladolid 0. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) left footed shot from very close range to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Marcelo following a fast break.

87:51 Corner, Real Valladolid. Conceded by Pepe.
85:00 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Real Valladolid. Osorio replaces Lluis Sastre.

84:39 Attempt missed. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Isco with a cross following a corner.
84:15 Corner, Real Madrid. Conceded by Diego Mariño.
84:13 Attempt saved. Jesé (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Pepe.
82:28 Attempt saved. Isco (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jesé.
81:52 Attempt missed. Zakarya Bergdich (Real Valladolid) left footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Fausto Rossi following a fast break.
81:25 Attempt saved. Álvaro Morata (Real Madrid) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Isco.
80:42 Booking

Booking Lluis Sastre (Real Valladolid) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

80:38 Isco (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
80:38 Foul by Lluis Sastre (Real Valladolid).
77:39 Luka Modric (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
77:39 Foul by Carlos Peña (Real Valladolid).
77:07 Foul by Daniel Carvajal (Real Madrid).
77:07 Zakarya Bergdich (Real Valladolid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.