Gareth Bale departed the Santiago Bernabéu to a standing ovation and joked that this time they had applauded him, “instead of a whistle, which is always good”.

The Welshman, who has occasionally been the focus of criticism from some supporters and who has been left out of the squad through injury 25 times during his career in Spain, curled in a wonderful goal and headed a second as Real Madrid came from a goal down to defeat Deportivo La Coruña 7-1. Those strikes took him to seven in only seven league starts this season, making him the team’s top scorer.

Afterwards he said he was finally nearing full fitness having managed to play only 10 league games since last April.

Bale’s return comes as a relief for Madrid, who have slipped a long way behind Barcelona in his absence and who face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League next month amid doubts and foreign pressure. Victory left them 19 points adrift of their biggest rivals, who won 5-0 at home against Real Betis.

Missing from the starting lineup in the league throughout October, November and December – although he made decisive contributions from the bench in the Copa del Rey and the Club World Cup – Bale was making his third start in January after appearances in the draw with Celta Vigo and a defeat against Villarreal. He scored twice in a much needed win before being withdrawn to applause. Nacho and Cristiano Ronaldo also scored twice, while Luka Modric got the other.

A bloodied Ronaldo withdrew just before the end after he was kicked in the face as he dived to head the seventh. Bale had gone 10 minutes earlier.

Cristiano Ronaldo uses a mobile phone to check a wound in his face during the La Liga match between against Deportivo Photograph: Juan Carlos Hidalgo/EPA

“It would have been nice to have stayed on to get the hat-trick but the most important thing is always to get the victory and to try to get some confidence back in the team,” Bale said. “Any sportsperson would tell you it’s not very nice to watch your team play and not be able to help them. But injuries happen in sport and all you can do is get back as soon as you can.”

Here, he offered a reminder of what he can do with a goal that bore his trademark, cutting in from the right and bending the ball into the far corner. “It’s nice to get goals, no matter what they are like, and the most important thing for us is to win the game. It was important to get the victory and hopefully the confidence will now grow and grow,” he said.

“I think I can be important but at the end of the day you have to prove it,” he added. “I feel like I have been doing that of late. And I have been working hard to stay fit. I have to keep playing the best I can. I’m almost there I think. It’s been a while since my ankle operation and since I have felt 100%. It’s been only recently that I have been without pain in my ankle, so I am getting there game by game; hopefully I’ll be there very soon.”

Bale underwent surgery on his ankle after the tendon came away from the bone in November 2016, later admitting that his recovery had been rushed and that he had taken painkillers to play. He was able to make a return as a substitute in the Champions League final in Cardiff but was not sufficiently fit to start.

Although he began this season, he suffered three calf strains and a torn muscle in his thigh, missing 10 league games as well as both of Madrid’s Champions League matches against Spurs, his former club. Defeat at Wembley left Madrid second in the group and facing Paris St-Germain in February. Madrid’s season hangs on Europe now, with defending their league title virtually impossible already. They currently lie fourth.

Asked if the Champions League offers Madrid a clean slate mentally, the chance to forget their domestic problems, Bale replied: “You can look at it like that [fresh slate] but I think we have to win every game we play, however many points we are behind in the league. We need to secure Champions League football, which is important, first. And then we need to grow in confidence.

“We know the Champions League is a cup competition, two games at a time, and that it is different [from the league] but we’ll just keep working hard to win games and do as best we can,” he continued. “We’ve not really thought about the Champions League yet, it’s still a bit of time away. We have to focus on each and every game at the moment, build confidence and get back to winning ways.

Nor has Bale been watching PSG. “I don’t really watch much football,” he said. “I’d rather watch the golf to be honest.”