Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid reclaimed top spot in La Liga with a 6-2 win against Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan.

An incident-packed encounter produced an identical scoreline to the same fixture last season, and saw Jose Mourinho's side bounce back from last week's Clasico defeat.

With Barcelona at the Club World Cup, Real reasserted their domestic credentials with a blistering attacking performance.

Ronaldo's hat-trick was complemented by a goal credited to Jose Maria Callejon, while Angel Di Maria and Hamit Altintop also got on the scoresheet for Real, who had Pepe sent off just before half-time.

Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo hit second-half goals for Sevilla, whose midfielder Manu Del Moral also saw red.

A thrillingly open game started with a flurry of attacks for Sevilla, for whom Navas provided a potent threat down the right.

Against the run of play, Karim Benzema and the excellent Di Maria had shot saved before Ronaldo opened the scoring on 10 minutes.

Di Maria played a defence-splitting pass through the middle, Ronaldo sprinted past his marker and finished low past Javi Varas.

Two minutes later Iker Casillas produced an astonishing save to preserve Real's lead. Navas played a low cross from the right that fell to Del Moral at the far post who had a virtual open goal.

Yet as he applied the final touch, Casillas flew across his goal to tip the ball acrobatically onto the post - a staggering intervention.

The Spain captain was called into action again on 17 minutes, when he dived low to his right to tip behind a Piotr Trochowski shot from the edge of the box.

Federico Fazio headed over as the home side dominated, yet on 37 minutes Sevilla found themselves two down.

Di Maria again provided a lofted pass into the box for Callejon, who arrived at the same time as Varas. A misjudgement from Varas allowed the ball to bounce through into the net - Callejon was deemed to have got a slight touch on the ball but replays suggested he made no contact.

Four minutes later, Ronaldo got his second in emphatic style. He picked the ball up 30 yards from goal and, fatally, was not closed down. The Portuguese rammed his long shot into the top-right corner with extraordinary power.

Then came Pepe's moment of madness, as he picked up a second yellow for thrusting an arm in the face of Negredo, an act that could have merited a red card on its own.

It did not affect Real, who went four up with a classic counter-attack goal. Benzema half-volleyed sumptuous ball through to Di Maria who finished with the outside of his left foot.

Navas pulled one back with a low drive from the edge of the area - reward for a tireless performance from the waif-like winger. But any hopes of a remarkable comeback evaporated when Del Moral was dismissed for a tackle from behind on Alvaro Arbeloa.

Ronaldo completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after Fazio had hacked Benzema, and Altintop made it six on 89 minutes when he converted a low cross from Xabi Alonso.

There was still time for Negredo to grab a consolation goal, rounding Casillas before slotting in from a tight angle.

Real go into the winter break top of La Liga - despite their defeat to Barcelona, rumours of their demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Alex Chick / Eurosport