Cristano Ronaldo scored his 200th goal for Real Madrid as Los Blancos cruised past Malaga 6-2 at the Bernabeu as the visitors were reduced to 9-men.
Knowing that anything other than a win would hand Barcelona the title, the hosts were determined to put that party on hold for a few more days.
And they made the perfect start when centre back Raul Albiol rose highest to head home a Luka Modric corner after just two minutes.
Former Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz brought the Champions League chasers level with deft finish after a nice team move on after a quarter of an hour.
Five minutes later though, the visitors were reduced to 10-men when Sergio Sanchez received his marching orders for bringing down Ronaldo in the area. The resulting penalty presented the Portuguese with a golden opportunity to score his 200th goal in just his 197th game for Los Blancos. But Willy Caballero had other ideas and made a magnificent stop with his right boot.
Ronaldo was not deterred and in the 26th minute he got the goal following an assist by Xabi Alonso. Just after the half hour mark, German international Mezut Ozil got in on the act and extended the home side’s lead following a mazy solo run.
Vitorino Atunes pulled a goal back for Malaga, but Karim Benzema gave Madrid a comfortable 4-2 half time lead when he finished off a move and a nice pass from Ronaldo.
Following the break, the visitors offered little going forward, while Madrid looked to take advantage of the extra man on the field. And on the hour mark Luka Modric got the goal his performance deserved.
Shortly afterwards, things went from bad to worse for Malaga as they were reduced to nine men when Martin Demichelis picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Ronaldo. He had been booked earlier for protesting over Madrid’s fourth goal.
In the final minute of the match Angel Di Maria scored Madrid’s sixth to round off a comfortable win.
