Gareth Bale puts matchball on top of his Christmas tree after Real Madrid win 10-2

The Welshman scored four goals in Sunday's win over Rayo Vallecano

Gareth Bale (GETTY IMAGES)

A fairy or a star are more traditional, but in the Bale household it is a football that takes pride of place at the top of the Christmas tree.

But it's not any old ball that Gareth Bale has placed on top of the festive foliage. It's the matchball from Real Madrid's 10-2 win over Rayo Vallecano, which Bale left with after scoring four of the goals.

Posting a picture on Twitter of the tree, the Welshman wrote: "The finishing touch! Home sweet home"

Bale helped himself to four goals as Real Madrid hammered nine-man Rayo Vallecano 10-2 to help ease the pressure on boss Rafael Benitez at the Bernabeu.

The hosts trailed 2-1 against a side sitting in the relegation zone but Roman Triguero and Raul Baena were both dismissed for Rayo in the opening 30 minutes, swinging the contest firmly in Real's direction.

As well as Bale's four-goal haul, Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick, Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a brace and Danilo added one, but Real missed out on their record victory - which remains an 11-1 thrashing over Barcelona in the 1940s.

Benitez said the way to win over the fans was to score goals and win matches.

"The supporters are unhappy at certain moments in games and what we have to do is change their opinion with victories and goals," he told a news conference.

"We all saw that after the 1-0 we weren't playing well but it was only a brief lapse," he added. "Later we did what we had to do."