Slow start sees Eibar slump to heavy defeat
Real Madrid struck three times in the opening half hour to put the game beyond the hosts' reach
Eibar were made to pay for a sluggish start as Real Madrid claimed a handsome victory at Ipurua, with the visitors racing into a three-goal lead by the half-hour mark to effectively end the game as a contest.
Right from the off, the Armeros failed to show their usual intensity and Madrid profited with some fine link-up play that saw them threaten to breach the home defence.
With 14 minutes on the clock, Karim Benzema connected with a Marco Asensio cross from the right, and although his first effort was parried by Yoel, the rebound fell to the feet of the Frenchman, who made no mistake to break the deadlock.
Eleven minutes later, Benzema made the most of some loose marking at the far post to poke home James Rodríguez's floated free-kick from the right to double the visitors' advantage. On 29' it was a case of role reversal as James converted a Benzema cross to further extend Madrid's lead.
Jose Luis Mendilibar - who was serving the first game of his touchline ban - saw his charges totally overrun and powerless to halt a Madrid side who showed intensity in their defending, gained the upper hand in the middle third and evidenced all of their pace down the flanks.
Eibar came out after the break looking brighter and showing more fight as the hosts began to dominate, whilst Zinedine Zidane's troops sat back and sought to break quickly on the counter.
In one of these breakaways, Asensio picked James out with a fine pass and the Colombian's chipped effort came back off the upright, with the rebound falling kindly to Asensio, who tucked the ball home to make it 4-0 to the visitors in the 60th minute.
The home side kept probing in search of a goal, which very nearly came on 68' when Keylor Navas palmed Sergi Enrich's point-blank header out as far as Mauro Dos Santos, who unsuccessfully tried to turn the ball home, before Gonzalo Escalante pounced, only for the home side's celebrations to be cut short by the lineman's flag.
The Armeros were eager to at least grab a consolation and they did just that on 72'. Pedro León's right-wing cross was met by Rubén Peña, who stole a march on Danilo to bundle the ball home. It was the Ávila-born midfielder's first La Liga strike and Eibar's maiden top-flight goal against Madrid at Ipurua.
The home faithful weren't prepared to allow this heavy reverse to take the gloss of what has been a magnificent season as they continued to back their side until the final whistle in recognition of the team's achievements on what was a bad day at the office for the hosts.
The Eibar players will now be handed three days off before returning to training on Wednesday ahead of their trip to Pamplona to face Osasuna on Monday 13 March.