Real Madrid return to league action with easy win over Granada

Real Madrid enjoyed what could turn out to be their most comfortable 90 minutes of the season as they extended their lead at the top of the Liga Santander to six points with a 5-0 thrashing of struggling Granada.

The game kicked off after Cristiano Ronaldo had been presented with his fourth Balon D' Or award along with former award winners from the club and the party atmosphere didn' t let up for the first 45 minutes as Madrid ran Granada ragged.

They camped in the Granada half and opened the scoring when Isco won possession from Sergi Samper and made the ground to finish Karim Benzema' s pass with a low shot.

Benzema made it 2-0 with a tap in after 20 minutes as Guillermo Ochoa left Modric' s shot for him to poke home, although replays did show the Frenchman was clearly offside and the goal should not have stood.

Six minutes later Marcelo produced some neat footwork on the left to cross for Ronaldo to score with a simple header and on the half hour good pressure on the right set up Modric to slide the ball over for Isco to score his second and make it 4-0.

With the game virtually over as a contest Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane took the opportunity to give more time to James Rodriguez who replaced Tony Kroos in the middle of the park, before Marcos Asensio replaced Isco five minutes later.

James was the provider from a set piece for Casimiro to steal in unmarked on the far post to score Madrid' s fifth just before the hour.

Madrid had further chances to add to their total, with Ochoa stopping a Ronaldo shot but there were no further goals as both sides saw out the closing minutes. Endit