By Fernando Kallas
MADRID (Reuters) -Levante were relegated from LaLiga on Thursday after they were thrashed 6-0 by champions Real Madrid, with Vinicius Junior scoring a hat-trick.
Bottom club Levante needed to win to keep alive their dwindling chances of survival but against a rampant Real, that hope was quickly snuffed out.
Real, who will face Liverpool in the Champions League final later this month, went ahead through Ferland Mendy before goals from Karim Benzema and Rodrygo made it 3-0.
Vinicius opened his account just before the interval before adding two more in the second half to condemn Levante to the drop as they suffered their 19th defeat of the season.
Mendy opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a fast counter-attack started by Luka Modric before Benzema extended their lead six minutes later after heading in a Vinicius cross.
Rodrygo scored the third with a close range strike after being provided with a fine assist from Modric, who also turned provider for Vinicius’s first goal.
Vinicius latched onto a Benzema cross in the 68th minute before the Brazilian sealed Real’s win with a close-range strike seven minutes from time.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
