Real Madrid's unbeaten streak reached 39 games on Saturday afternoon as they easily strolled past Granada 5-0 at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.
With the victory, Los Blancos have equalled the mark set by Luis Enrique's Barcelona last season and will attempt to better that in midweek when they travel to Sevilla for their Copa del Rey Round of 16 second leg.
While it was not the 9-1 scoreline that Real enjoyed over Granada two seasons to go, the match was just as lopsided as Real completely dominated while Granada showed very little resistance. By the half-hour mark, the home side were already up 3-0 thanks to goals from Isco, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo. Isco would then add a second before Casemiro scored a rare goal in the second half to round things out.
Despite a brace midweek versus Sevilla, James was relegated back to the bench as manager Zinedine Zidane swapped Thursday's front three with the trio of Ronaldo, Benzema and Isco. Otherwise, the only other change was in goal with Keylor Navas returning to his usual starting position.
Granada came out playing a deep-lying 4-5-1 constructed by boss Lucas Alcaraz, but that plan quickly fell by the wayside when an early giveaway led to the first Real goal. Isco forced a Samper turnover that eventually fell to Benzema, who quickly fed Isco and his right-footer squeezed under Granada goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
Things were playing nicely into Real's hands and by the 20-minute mark Zidane's men were well on their way to another three points as Benzema scored to make it 2-0. Granada were unable to clear and a ball fell to Luka Modric, whose low-driving shot forced Ochoa into a diving save. The Mexican was only able to block the ball however and Benzema was there to pounce on the ball and score. Replays showed that the Frenchman was offside when Modric took his shot, but the goal stood.
Real were playing relaxed, confident football and Granada were powerless to stop it. Minutes later Marcelo took a page from Allen Iverson's book and broke the ankles of Granada full-back Tito before sending in a ball for Ronaldo to head in for a 3-0 advantage.
Tito was once again the victim on the fourth Real score, which came just minutes after the half-hour mark, when Isco beat him to a cross from Modric at the far post and easily pushed it into the net for his second of the day and a 4-0 Real lead.
There was no reaction from Granada. The Andalusians appeared to be in a state of shock and completely unable to mount anything that would trouble Navas in the Real goal. And if not for a pair of saves from Ochoa, it could have been much worse by the time referee Vicandi Garrido mercifully whistled for half-time.
In order to keep Toni Kroos available for next week's league fixture versus Sevilla, James was brought on at the start of the second half for the German, who would have suspended next week with a yellow card. The Colombian then nearly scored his third goal of the week but was denied by Ochoa.
You know that it is a good day for Real when Casemiro gets in on the scoring, and that's what happened shortly before the hour mark to stretch the Real lead to 5-0. Of note was the free kick played in by James, which curled over everyone and landed at the back post where the unmarked Brazilian midfielder easily touched the ball into net.
The last 30 minutes were essentially a training exercise for Real, who batted the ball around at their leisure while patiently looking for chances to score. Granada tried in vain to salvage something from the game with a consolation goal, but Real were far more likely to score the next goal. Both James and Ronaldo had good looks before the full-time whistle, but the bombarded Ochoa prevented further damage.
Real return to action on Thursday in their Copa del Rey Round of 16 second leg at Sevilla.

- Match Sheet:

5.- Real Madrid: Navas; Carvajal, Varane, Nacho, Marcelo (Coentrao, min. 69); Casemiro, Kroos (James, min. 46), Modric; Isco (Marco Asensio, min. 50), Benzema, Ronaldo

0.- Granada: Ochoa; Tito, Vezo, Lombán, Gabriel Silva; Sergio Samper, Uche Agbo (Javi Marquez, min. 61), Andreas Pereira; Boga (Bueno, min. 66), Gabriel Silva (Min. 70) for Granada, Tabanou (Ponce, min. 78), Kravets.

Goals: 1-0, min. 12: Isco; 2-0, min. 21: Benzema; 3-0, min. 27: Ronaldo; 4-0, min. 31: Isco; 5-0, min. 58: Casemiro

Referee: Vicandi Garrido.

Yellow Cards: Samper (Min. 44) for Granada, Uche Agbo (Min. 57) for Granada, Tabanou (Min. 72) for Granada.

Red cards: None.

Stadium: Santiago Bernabeu.

Attendance: 71,000.