Real Madrid closed to within 10 points of Barcelona in third ahead of the meeting between the two sides in two weeks, as Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo (BBC) all scored in a 4-0 win over Sevilla. Barcelona extended its lead at the top of La Liga to nine points over Atletico Madrid despite blowing a two-goal advantage to draw 2-2 at Villarreal Sunday. Meanwhile, Valencia boss Gary Neville was called a "donkey" and urged "to go now" by the club's fans after losing 2-0 at home to Celta Vigo. Madrid will attempt to stop Barca's run reaching 40 on April 2 and will be full of confidence as its ‘BBC' front three of Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema started together and all scored for the first time in two months. "Playing like this we can do great things," said Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane. "The players know that, but in football every game is different so we have to play with the same intensity and commitment." Benzema opened the scoring with a thumping volley into the top corner from Bale's cross after just six minutes. Sevilla had the chance to level from the penalty spot, but Keylor Navas flew to his right to deny Kevin Gameiro midway through the first-half. Ronaldo also missed from the spot for the third time this season when he blazed over early in the second period. Yet, it mattered little with two goals in two minutes just after the hour mark with Ronaldo and Bale slotting home from close range. Jese Rodriguez then pounced on some sloppy Sevilla defending to round off the scoring four minutes from time. At the other end of the table, Valencia remains just six points above the relegation after a third consecutive league defeat. Higuain closes on record Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon set a Serie A record Sunday for not conceding a goal, while Napoli forward Gonzalo Higuain closed in on a league record of his own. Napoli came from behind to beat Genoa 3-1 with two goals from Higuain. The Argentina forward has scored 29 league goals this season, six short of the record since Serie A has had 20 teams. That mark is also held by a former Milan player — Gunnar Nordahl, who netted 35 times in 37 matches in 1949-50. Milan drew 1-1 with Lazio. Standard wins Belgian Cup In Brussels, Standard Liege's Ivan Santini headed the winner three minutes from fulltime to clinch the Belgian Cup with a 2-1 final victory over holder Club Bruges Sunday. Croatian Santini headed home a cross from Mathieu Dossevi in the 87th minute as the game headed for extra time at the King Baudouin Stadium. Santini had set up the opening goal for Standard just after the quarter-hour mark, playing a one-two with scorer Jean-Luc Dompe. The lead, however, lasted just 10 minutes before Lior Rafaelov netted with a stunning free kick. — Agencies
