Real Madrid vs Real Betis: Los Blancos romp Helipolitans in Mbappe's absence to reduce deficit on Barcelona

Real Madrid ran riot against Real Betis, beating the Andalusian side 5-0 without their top goalscorer, Kylian Mbappe.

Mbappe has scored 18 of Los Blancos's 36 league goals before this game. Hence, his injury-enforced absence led to concerns about Real Madrid's ability to get goals.

However, Gonzalo Garcia stepped up, as he did in the Club World Cup, scoring a hat-trick to help Los Blancos blow Betis away and send a warning to Atletico Madrid and Barcelona ahead of the Supercopa de España.

Real Madrid set the tone early and struck first in the 19th minute when Gonzalo García finished with precision inside the box to make it 1–0. The goal came from sustained pressure, with Los Blancos suffocating their opponents in the early exchanges. 

Gonzalo Garcia got his brace in the 50th minute, before Raúl Asencio nodded home from a well-delivered corner to put Xabi Alonso's side 3–0 up in the 56th minute. 

Cucho Hernandez pulled one back for Real Madrid and Betis threatened a comeback before García ended their hopes, completing his hat-trick in the 80th minute to give his side a commanding advantage. 

Deep into stoppage time, a third Garcia,  Fran García, added a fifth for Real Madrid, getting on the end of a Federico Valverde assist to close off a high-scoring encounter.