Jude Bellingham Delivers As Real Madrid Punish Girona, Sociedad Win Basque Derby vs Athletic Bilbao

Inspired by Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid showed both steel and class to beat high-flying Girona 3-0 on Saturday and move back top of La Liga. Real Sociedad thrashed Athletic Bilbao by the same scoreline to win the Basque derby later on and rise to fourth. Girona headed into the weekend as unlikely leaders but champions Barcelona usurped them by beating Sevilla on Friday, with Madrid then deposing their rivals at the league's summit with a solid triumph on Catalan soil.

Joselu and Aurelien Tchouameni's first-half goals were enough to burst Girona's bubble and after that the record 35-time La Liga winners kept the plucky upstarts at arm's length.

The stylish Bellingham netted with 20 minutes remaining to seal Madrid's victory and continue his own sparkling run of goalscoring form.

Madrid defender Nacho was sent off late in the match for an ugly high tackle on Portu, who went off injured.

"Nacho wasn't thinking clearly, he's usually a player who does things right, he has said sorry," said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, who praised his team's display.

"It was a solid performance, strong, we defended well, we knew they could hurt us with the ball, they play good football, so it was important to defend well in our half."

Michel's side beat Real Madrid at home last season and their fans believed they could repeat the trick, but they found a determined side in their path.

In only their fourth season in the Spanish top flight and unbeaten in their first seven games, the City Football Group-owned team are flourishing, but their illustrious visitors arrived with a point to prove about the natural order of things, and snapped that run.

Ancelotti brought in Eduardo Camavinga at left-back to bolster the defence after Atletico Madrid