Kylian Mbappe scored twice as Real Madrid closed the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona to six points with a 4-1 win over Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu, a week before the rivals meet.
Despite the absence of suspended Vinicius Jr, Real produced the fluid attacking football the team had been lacking of late, with Arda Guler again orchestrating their best work on Sunday.
After a stale opening, the Turkish international sparked the match into life.
Sevilla appealed for a red card following an incident involving Guler and Peque Fernandez, but Guler responded minutes later by collecting Yan Diomande’s pass and arrowing a shot into the top corner.
Mbappe scored an equally impressive second in the 37th minute, turning brilliantly to burst through on goal before calmly beating Odysseas Vlachodimos.
Fede Valverde, restored to right back by coach Jose Mourinho, made a crucial block to deny Felix Correia just before the hour as Sevilla threatened to work their way back into the contest.
Diomande then exploited the space created by Sevilla’s more adventurous approach, evading his marker before sending Mbappe in behind the defence. Andres Castrin brought down the French forward, who got to his feet to convert the resulting penalty and effectively settle the contest.
Substitute Manu Bueno reduced Sevilla’s arrears with a composed finish 10 minutes from time after Mbappe cheaply surrendered possession deep inside his own half.
Diomande restored Real’s three-goal advantage two minutes later, capping a fine display with a thunderous strike.
Eder Militao received a warm ovation when he came on in the 85th minute for his first appearance since undergoing hamstring surgery in April.
Mourinho will take encouragement from one of the most complete performances of his second spell at Real as they prepare for next Sunday’s pivotal meeting with Barcelona.
Real, who have won three straight games in all competitions following the international break, climbed to third on 21 points, one behind Atletico Madrid, while Sevilla are sixth on 14.
Earlier on Saturday, Barcelona beat Real Betis 5-2 to make it nine wins from nine and stretch their blistering league tally to 39 goals.
Lamine Yamal lit the fuse with a dazzling opener before Rodri, Gabriel Jesus, Eric Garcia and substitute Dani Olmo joined the party, while Valentin Gomez and Ez Abde replied for Betis, who played much of the second half with 10 men after Facundo Bernal was sent off for head-butting Lamine.
Barca moved to 27 points, five above Atletico, who won 1-0 at Espanyol, while third-placed Betis have 19 and Real Madrid sit fourth on 18 before welcoming Sevilla on Sunday.
Elsewhere, Osasuna withstood second-half pressure from Racing Santander to win 2-0 in Jagoba Arrasate’s first game back as manager.
Two flying saves from Ionut Radu denied Alaves a point in a 2-1 defeat to Celta Vigo, while Real Sociedad won 5-2 at Malaga.