Real Madrid kept pace with Barcelona at the top of La Liga on Wednesday while at the other end of the table Osasuna’s return to the top flight lasted just a season as their relegation was confirmed.

Barcelona took full advantage of playing first and threw down the gauntlet by temporarily opening up a three-point lead at the summit with a 7-1 Nou Camp thrashing of Osasuna, so it was up to Real Madrid to respond - and bounce back from Sunday’s dramatic home defeat in el clásico - in the late kick-off.

There was no Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale or Karim Benzema but it was no problem for Zinedine Zidane’s team as they won 6-2 at Deportivo La Coruña to close the gap.

The perennial substitute Álvaro Morata again proved he has more ability than that of an understudy by opening the scoring inside a minute and James Rodríguez, who himself struggles for first-team opportunities, made it 2-0 before 15 minutes were up.

Pepe Mel’s Deportivo, now safe from the drop after a campaign of struggle, gave Real Madrid food for thought with a Florin Andone goal 10 minutes before the break but Lucas Vazquez re-established the two-goal cushion heading into half-time.

The Colombian attacking midfielder Rodríguez staked his claim for more game time, or perhaps a reprieve from Zidane’s rumoured summer transfer list, with a second after the hour mark and Isco capped an impressive creative display with a goal of his own 11 minutes later.

Former Real Madrid B striker Joselu - on loan from Stoke - pulled another goal back for Deportivo but the visitors always had another in them and that honour fell to Casemiro.

Earlier Barcelona blitzed Osasuna with four goals in 10 second-half minutes. Luis Enrique rested several of his regular starters, including Luis Suárez, Andrés Iniesta and Jordi Alba – an understandable move following gruelling matches against Juventus and Real Madrid and before the weekend’s derby at Espanyol.

It seemed it would not matter much after Lionel Messi struck early and André Gomes extended the lead before half-time.

However, the decision might have been briefly questioned when Roberto Torres pulled a goal back at the start of the second half. But Gomes and Messi both got their second goals of the evening either side of the hour to put the game to bed and Paco Alcacer and Javier Mascherano, the latter from the penalty spot, quickly added gloss to the scoreline with 67 minutes on the clock. Alcacer became the third player to score a double with four minutes remaining.