Real Madrid returned to winning ways in LaLiga with a thumping 3-0 victory at Athletic Club after a Kylian Mbappé brace.

Mbappé broke the deadlock after seven minutes at San Mames with England full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold able to claim his first assist for the Spanish club, but the former Liverpool defender's night ended early due to a suspected thigh injury.

Madrid were two up by the time Alexander-Arnold limped off due to Eduardo Camavinga's 42nd-minute effort and Mbappé wrapped up the points with his 16th goal in LaLiga this term before the hour mark in Bilbao.

Barcelona had extended their lead at the summit on Tuesday night with a 3-1 win over Atlético Madrid, but Real quickly set about reducing the gap and opened the scoring after only seven minutes.

Alexander-Arnold played his part on his fourth consecutive start for Madrid after he skipped away from Nico Williams and produced a wonderful pass across the field, but after it was all about Mbappé as he controlled by the centre circle before he curled home from 20 yards.

It was a sensational strike and just reward after Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior had already gone close.

Xabi Alonso watched his team continue to dictate the tempo, while Thibaut Courtois was called into action for the first time before the half-hour mark when Gorka Guruzeta let fly.

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Ernesto Valverde's men almost levelled in the 31st minute when Williams flicked into the path of Álex Berenguer, but Courtois made himself big to make a crucial block.

During a frantic passage of play, Vinicius struck the woodwork from a tight angle before the Brazil forward was impressively thwarted by Unai Simón.

Madrid would not have to wait long for a second though as Alexander-Arnold produced a fine cross for Mbappé to head across goal for Camavinga to nod home after 42 minutes.

It remained 2-0 at the break, but Alexander-Arnold was only able to last 10 minutes of the second half as he went down and limped off.

Alonso's concern was soon replaced by celebrations as Mbappé let fly from range in the 59th minute and beat Simon to make it 3-0.

Camavinga was the next to go down, with Alonso forced into another substitution before the Madrid boss quickly brought off his other big stars.

Mbappé and Vinicius made way with 10 minutes left and the latter embraced Alonso as he left the pitch.

While Athletic pushed for a late consolation, Madrid held out for a clean sheet.