Gonzalo Garcia scored a brilliant hat-trick, the first LaLiga goals of his career, as Real Madrid kept the pressure on Barcelona with a 5-1 thrashing of Real Betis on Sunday. 

Gonzalo Garcia led the line in place of the injured Kylian Mbappe at Estadio Bernabeu, with his treble coming between goals from Raul Asencio and substitute Fran Garcia. 

After failing to test Betis goalkeeper Alvaro Valles early on, Madrid took the lead in the 20th minute when Gonzalo Garcia nodded Rodrygo's inviting free-kick into the bottom-right corner.

Xabi Alonso's team continued to be wasteful as Aurelien Tchouameni fired off target before Nelson Deossa's half-volley just before half-time sailed way over the crossbar. 

But five minutes after the restart, Gonzalo Garcia grabbed his and Madrid's second of the match with an excellent volley past Valles after chesting down Federico Valverde's forward pass. 

Raul Asencio then seemingly put the result beyond doubt after nodding Rodrygo's corner kick home six minutes later, but Betis hit back through Cucho Hernandez soon after. 

However, Gonzalo Garcia crowned a fine individual display by claiming his hat-trick eight minutes from time, with the Spaniard brilliantly flicking Arda Guler's cross into the back of the net. 

The win was sealed in the 93rd minute as Fran Garcia finished first time from another Valverde cross, moving Madrid to within four points of rivals and league leaders Barcelona. 

Data Debrief: No Mbappe? No problem for Madrid

Ahead of kick-off, Alonso urged his team to find solutions in the absence of Mbappe, and it was one of their stars from the Club World Cup in Garcia who stood up to the task. 

After finishing as the joint-top scorer at the Club World Cup in the summer, Gonzalo Garcia had failed to score in his first 13 LaLiga outings in 2025-26. 

However, he hit a hat-trick here, becoming only the second player for Madrid to score his first three goals in the same match in the top flight in the 21st century after Ruud Van Nistelrooy in 2006. 

But Rodrygo also impressed with two assists. He has now been involved in four goals in his last five games in all competitions (two goals, two assists), as many as he had managed in his previous 36 outings for Los Blancos. 

Madrid were worthy of their win, registering an expected goals (xG) total of 2.91 from their 19 attempts, compared to Betis' 0.98 from their 13 shots in the match.