Madrid: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice but had to leave the pitch with his face covered in blood as Real Madrid eased their domestic crisis by hammering Liga strugglers Deportivo La Coruna 7-1 at home on Sunday to reclaim fourth place in the standings.

Real had lost two of their last three league games and got off on the wrong foot against relegation-threatened Deportivo when former Atletico Madrid forward Adrian Lopez put the visiting side ahead against the run of play in the 23rd minute.

The stumbling La Liga champions responded in emphatic fashion, however, and went on to record their biggest win of the season in all competitions with two goals apiece from Gareth Bale and Nacho Fernandez as well as Ronaldo and a long-range strike from Luka Modric.

Ronaldo was unable to continue playing after he was left with a bloodied face by the boot of Deportivo defender Fabian Schar as he struck his second goal, which took him level with Bale as Real's top scorer in the league with six strikes.

Real climbed back above Villarreal into fourth place on 35 points,

Ronaldo took his obsession with his image to new heights as he examined his bloodied face on the mobile phone of a Real doctor while walking off the pitch towards the end of the match. Ronaldo, who once claimed people were envious of him "because I'm rich, handsome and a great player", was left with his entire face drenched in blood and required treatment on the pitch immediately after scoring.

The club's doctors declared him unable to continue for the remainder of the game even though Real had used their three changes. As Ronaldo walked towards the dressing room his main preoccupation was with how his face looked.

He asked one of Madrid's medical staff if he could use his phone and was seen using the mobile's screen to scrutinise his face, which was left as red as the shirt of his former club Manchester United.

On Saturday, Villarreal defeated Levante 2-1, while Valencia had two players sent off as they fell to a shock 1-2 defeat at lowly Las Palmas.

A 26th-minute penalty from Manu Trigueros and Real youth product Denis Cheryshev's first league goal in nearly two years saw Javier Calleja's side earn three valuable points. Agencies