Vinícius scores hat-trick in victory as three Real Madrid players fall injured

Vinícius Júnior scored a hat-trick to give Real Madrid a 4-0 victory over Osasuna on Saturday, in a well-deserved victory that was hampered by the stretcher departure of teammate Éder Militão.

Madrid had heard boos in their previous two home matches – a 4-0 loss to fierce rivals Barcelona and a 3-1 loss to AC Milan.

But this easy victory may have come at a heavy cost.

Militão was taken off after the centre-back collapsed on the turf screaming and clutching the back of his right knee shortly before half-time. Rodrygo and Lucas Vázquez were also unable to continue after reportedly suffering muscle injuries in the first half.

Vinícius, who felt overlooked when the Ballon d'Or went to Spaniard Rodri last week, scored his second hat-trick of the season to take his tally to 12 goals. Jude Bellingham's goal made it 2-0.

Madrid is in second place in the Spanish championship, six points behind leader Barcelona.

Rodrygo appeared to suffer a muscle injury early in the match. The striker, who missed the 'clasico' due to another injury, cried as he walked gingerly to the bench, where a team doctor put ice on his left leg .

The worst was to come for coach Carlo Ancelotti with the fall of Militão. He pulled his jersey over his face as he was carried away on a stretcher at the half-hour mark.

A numb Santiago Bernabeu was brought back to life by Vinícius when he cut back and curled in the opener in the 34th minute.

Madrid right-back Dani Carvajal was already ruled out for the season with a serious leg injury. Goalkeepers Courtois Thibaut, David Alaba and Aurélien Tchouaméni were also unavailable due to their own injuries.

Ancelotti replaced Militão with young team player Raúl Asencio, who made the most of his debut by delivering a long lofted pass which Bellingham used with one touch to deflect past goalkeeper Sergio Herrera to double the lead at the 42nd.

Vinícius received another long pass, this time from goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, before rounding Herrera to make it 3-0 in the 61st. He got his third after substitute Brahim Díaz stole the ball from defender Flavien-Enzo Boyomo and dismissed his scoring partner in the 69th.

While Vinícius flew off, his strike partner Kylian Mbappé remained in the doldrums and failed to score after France failed to call him up for a second successive international spell.

Osasuna, the only team to beat Barcelona in the league this campaign, failed to get a shot on goal.

Before kick-off, Madrid unfurled a huge banner representing the flag of the Spanish region of Valencia in the stands, during a minute's silence in memory of the more than 200 people who died in last week's catastrophic floods in eastern Spain.