Five things we learned as slick Real Madrid moved to within touching distance of the La Liga title

Cristiano Ronaldo continues to rewrite the record-books, Keylor Navas impresses again and Real will now surely go on to beat Barcelona to the league title

An insatiable Cristiano Ronaldo fired Real Madrid to a 4-1 win over Celta Vigo on Wednesday to take Zinedine Zidane's side three points clear at the top of La Liga and within touching distance of winning a first league title in five years.

Real top the standings on 90 points meaning they need just one point from their remaining league game at Malaga on Sunday to finish ahead of Barcelona and lift a first title since Jose Mourinho's 2012 success.

Ronaldo lashed into the near corner from outside the area to put Real in charge in the 10th minute with a goal that moved him ahead of former England striker Jimmy Greaves as the all-time leading scorer in Europe's top five leagues on 367 goals.

The prolific Portuguese doubled his and Real's tally in the 48th minute by latching onto a through ball from the impressive Isco and tucking it in off the near post to take Madrid closer still to a 33rd league success.

Celta's Iago Aspas was later sent off for a second booking for diving although the home side briefly clawed their way back into the match when John Guidetti's deflected strike looped over Keylor Navas in the 69th minute.

Karim Benzema quickly extinguished any comeback hopes by nudging home a Marcelo cutback from close range and the Frenchman and Ronaldo each wasted chances late on to add to the scoring before Toni Kroos knocked in the fourth in the 88th minute.

Real Madrid now firm favourites for the title

Real are now in pole position to win the title (Getty)

With two games of the La Liga season remaining, Real Madrid required four points to win their first league title since the 2011/12 season. They picked up three of them against a desperately out-of-form Celta Vigo side, and are now overwhelming favourites to go on and win the title.

The win moves Real three points clear of bitter rivals Barcelona, who had been topping the table ahead of this fixture because of their superior record in the club’s head to head meetings this season.

But now, with one game remaining, Real Madrid need only a point to ensure that they pip Barcelona to the post right at the very end of the season. Barcelona have the easier final-day fixture – at home to mid-table Eibar – but that will count for little as long as Real avoid defeat on the road to Málaga.

Ronaldo continues to rewrite the record-books

Ronaldo was on hand to help down Celta (Getty)

Since Cristiano Ronaldo first arrived in Madrid as the most expensive footballer of all-time, the Portuguese forward has won one (soon to be two?) La Liga titles; two (soon to be three?) Champions League titles; as well as three domestic trophies. He’s also won the Ballon d’Or four-times. At this stage in his career, there is simply no question that he is one of the greatest to ever play the game.

And against Celta Vigo, there was further confirmation of this fact. His opening goal – a powerful, driven strike from 20-yards – was his 367th league goal from his spells at both Real and Manchester United, breaking a longstanding record held by Jimmy Greaves for the most goals in Europe’s top-five leagues. He then went on to add a second, his 368th, in the second-half.

Even at 32, Ronaldo remains a record-breaker.

Navas may not be done just yet

Navas made a fine save to deny Wass (Getty)

Real Madrid aren’t just Europe’s best side on the football pitch. They also lead all other teams when it comes to spurious transfer gossip, with Spanish newspapers such as Marca frequently publishing sometimes accurate, always outlandish stories on which world superstar they may sign next.

Monaco’s Kylian Mbappé and Juventus striker Paulo Dybala will be two players repeatedly linked to Real this summer, but the club’s primary transfer target appears to be Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea, whom they very nearly signed ahead of the 2015/16 season.

It would appear the days of Keylor Navas are numbered. And yet the Costa Rican number one has been superb since Real’s disappointing derby defeat to Barcelona and impressed against Celta. The 30-year-old made a particularly fine reflex save to deny a dipping Daniel Wass free-kick.

Benzema gave Madrid a small scare

Celta struggled to cope with Benzema up front (Getty)

The hearts of many Real Madrid supporters would have been located firmly in their mouths shortly before half-time, as Karim Benzema was clattered to the floor and limped off down the tunnel.

Fortunately the Frenchman was able to continue, and he rounded off a sublime performance with a fine goal in the second-half, to put Madrid in complete control against their tenacious opponents.

Zidane will be delighted his striker was able to continue and will hope he can remain fit for the Malaga fixture, as well as the Champions League final. Benzema has been in superb form this season and his partnership with Ronaldo continues to flourish; Real can ill-afford him to pull up injured at this critical stage of the season.

It's a funny old game...

Madrid fans cheering on their team at the Balaídos (Getty)

This game was originally due to be played in early February, but storms across Spain left the stadium unsafe and forced the Spanish authorities to postpone the game.

Real Madrid were disappointed with the decision and did everything in their power to ensure the game went ahead. “Having learned of the possibility of the game being postponed more than 30 hours ahead of kick-off, the club proposed three alternatives to the Professional Football League,” they said in a statement at the time.

“Firstly, for consideration to be given to the possibility of repairing the damaged stadium roof; secondly, the possibility of the affected stand being closed; and thirdly, if the two aforementioned options were not possible, to look into staging the fixture at another nearby stadium.”

Eager to avoid fixture congestion later on in the season, their thinking was clear. And yet, in the end, the postponement surely benefited their title chances. At the time of the postponement, Celta were on a three-match winning run. But since then their form has deteriorated, and they had lost their last five La Liga matches heading into this match.

Reaction

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane: "We have one game left but today was very important.

Zidane is not willing to start the celebrations just yet (Getty)

"We know what we need to do. We need to prepare well and recover from today as we gave so much.

"The first half was end to end and that doesn't suit us, we were much better with the ball in the second and we played a little better.

"I don't feel like we're the champions yet, we still need to pick up more points and keep on with what we're doing."

Additional reporting by Reuters.