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MADRID. — Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale had a perfect return to action after three games out through injury, with a goal and an assist as Los Blancos moved to the top of the Spanish La Liga on Saturday night.
Madrid’s 4-2 win over Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu coupled with Atletico Madrid’s 2-0 defeat at Almeria allowed Real to go above Atletico just three days after they had also dealt Diego Simeone’s side a 3-0 defeat in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final.

Bale opened the scoring with his 11th goal of the season before teeing up Karim Benzema to make it 2-0 inside the first 25 minutes.
Jese Rodriguez and Benzema with his second rounded off the scoring for the hosts after the break, whilst Mario Gaspar and Giovani Dos Santos scored two brilliant consolation goals for Villarreal.

Real are now unbeaten in 23 games stretching back to October and Bale believes the results show he and his teammates are enjoying their football right now. — AFP.