Madrid back on track as Monaco bow out

Wednesday

Deportivo 2-6 Real Madrid (Andone 35, Joselu 84; Morata 1, James Rodríguez 14 66, Lucas Vázquez 44, Isco 77, Casemiro 87)

Zinédine Zidane's side bounced back from Sunday's home loss against Barcelona with an impressive display at El Riazor, a Madrid side showing nine changes taking an early lead thanks to Álvaro Morata's near-post finish with 53 seconds on the clock. James Rodríguez doubled the lead with his third goal in five matches, Lucas Vázquez restoring the two-goal cushion after Florin Andone had briefly brought Deportivo back into it.

Cristiano Ronaldo was rested and Karim Benzema left on the bench, but Madrid still found goals easy to come by, James, Isco – his third goal in his last two Liga outings – and Casemiro wrapping up a win that keeps Madrid level on points with Barcelona at the top of the table.

Paris 5-0 Monaco (Draxler 26, Cavani 31, Mbae og 50, Matuidi 52, Marquinhos 89)

Abdou Diallo during Monaco's semi-final loss to Paris©Getty Images

Monaco's hopes of a first Coupe de France final since 2010 were ended in emphatic style as a much-changed side went down 5-0 to Paris Saint-Germain, who stayed on course for a third successive win in the competition.

Two goals in six first-half minutes from Julian Draxler and Edinson Cavani, the latter with a back-heel, put Monaco on the back foot, and two more Paris strikes in three minutes ended the contest early in the second period, 20-year-old defender Safwan Mbae marking his first start for Monaco's senior side with an own goal before Blaise Matuidi made it four. Marquinhos added a late fifth to complete Monaco's biggest defeat of the season.

Tuesday

Atlético Madrid 0-1 Villarreal (Soriano 82)

Atlético's 12-game unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end on Tuesday evening. Diego Simeone's side began the night looking to close the gap on Liga pacesetters Barcelona and Real Madrid, but ended it looking over their shoulders at fourth-placed Sevilla, who remain three points adrift but now have a game in hand.

Antoine Griezmann reflects on Atlético's defeat©AFP/Getty Images

This was a meeting of the two meanest defences in the Liga, but Atlético created no shortage of chances. Antoine Griezmann, Saúl Ñíguez and Ángel Correa all spurned openings in the first half, with Nicolás Gaitán coming closest to squeezing the ball over the line after the break. It was the Yellow Submarine, though, who eventually found the breakthrough, Roberto Soriano turning in Cédric Bakambu's cross eight minutes from time.

Atlético are at Las Palmas on Saturday before heading to the Bernabéu for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final on Tuesday 2 May.