Ronaldo's hat-trick helps Real hit six

Cristiano Ronaldo (centre) celebrates his hat-trick in Real Madrid's 6-0 win (AP )

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid raced to a convincing 6-0 win at Real Zaragoza in their opening La Liga fixture yesterday, as the Spanish league started a week later than planned after the players ended their strike. Marcelo, Xabi Alonso and Kaka were also on target for Jose Mourinho's side in the rout.

Champions Barcelona kick-off their league campaign tonight when they take on Villarreal at the Nou Camp.

Big-spending Malaga, who were bought by a member of the Qatar royal family last year and have splashed out £50m on players over the summer, went down 2-1 at Andalusian rivals Seville. Alvaro Negredo, who has been linked with a move to Spurs, scored both of Seville's goals in the first half.

An Atletico Madrid side shorn of summer departures Sergio Aguero and David De Gea were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Osasuna. The unsettled striker Diego Forlan, who looks set to sign for Internazionale, was not included in the squad, while their record signing from Porto, Radamel Falcao, was missing due to a delay on the required paperwork.

Valencia's Roberto Soldado enjoyed an eventful start to the season, scoring a hat-trick and also an own goal in Los Che's dramatic 4-3 victory over Racing Santander.

Reportedly the world's highest-paid footballer, Samuel Eto'o began to pay back some of his mammoth £300,000 per week wages by scoring on his debut for Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala to salvage a 1-1 draw with Rostov.

Mario Gomez scored a hat-trick for Bayern Munich to seal a 3-0 win away at Kaiserslautern in the Bundesliga. The defending German champions Borussia Dortmund could only draw 0-0 with Bayer Leverkusen in a fiery encounter at the BayArena, in which both teams ended the match with 10 players. Full-back Michal Kadlec was dismissed for Leverkusen for a wild lunge, and Dortmund midfielder Mario Götze was also later sent off.