Real Madrid leapfrogged FC Barcelona into top spot in LALIGA after coming from behind to defeat Villarreal 2-1 on Saturday evening.
After a nerve-wrecking penalty shoot-out win over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, Los Blancos gave starts to Fran Garcia, Aurelien Tchouameni, Lucas Vazquez, and Brahim Diaz.
The reigning champions trailed on seven minutes as Juan Foyth latched onto a loose ball from a corner-kick and tucked in from close-range.
Madrid hit back in the opening-quarter mark when a rebound from goalkeeper Diego Conde saw Kylian Mbappe pounce and finished off to make it 1-1.
Mbappe helped himself to a brace a little later after peeling off in the area to get onto a cutback from Vazquez and drilled in the top-corner of the net.
Villarreal were under more pressure on the half-hour mark as Rodrygo came goal-side after a back-heel pass from Mbappe though he fired in the side-netting.
The Yellow Submarines made a change at the break with Nicolas Pepe sacrificed for Thierno Barry in a straight offensive alteration.
Villareal applied loads of pressure earlier on in a desperate quest to go back on level terms, but Los Blancos sat deep and cleared their lines.
Evergreen Luka Modric came on around the midway point of the second half and replaced Rodrygo as the visitors freshened up their stall.
Madrid targeted a third in the final exchanges with a first-time volley from the edge of the box by Federico Valverde, but Conde got down and made a stop.
The title-chasing visitors ran down the clock given the persistent pressure from the Yellow Submarines and walked away with the maximum points.