Wednesday's match between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona will truly be the first title challengers' clash after Los Rojiblancos confirmed their ascendancy with a 5-0 win over Sporting Gijon.
Early draws with Alaves and Leganes had threatened Atleti's push for glory this season, but they remain within touching distance of the Blaugrana, who themselves won 5-1 on Saturday, thanks to goals from Fernando Torres, Kevin Gameiro, and Antoine Griezmann.
It took just 90 seconds for the French duo to combine as Gameiro hassled the Sporting defence into conceding possession in their own half, poking the ball into Griezmann's path for a cool one-on-one finish.
The game went a long way to being finished within minutes of its beginning, the former Sevilla man grabbing his first Madrid goal from open play as he turned into yards of open space on the 18-yard line and curled home without so much of a whisper of defiance from the visitors.
Miles off the pace, Abelardo Fernandez's side looked comfortable in possession but were savaged by Atleti's swift counter-attacks as soon as the home side won the ball.
As Gameiro was denied a second from a questionable offside decision on 27 minutes, it appeared that the unbeaten Gijon's early success against newly-promoted sides had complacently led to the visitors treating Los Colchoneros with the same regard.
Strolling forward on the half-hour mark, Griezmann made it 3-0 from 20 yards with a fierce effort into the far corner, allowing Diego Simeone to withdraw his strikeforce from the pitch looking towards the trip to the Camp Nou.
The fourth arrived via substitutes Angel Correa and Torres, the Argentine released by the excellent Filipe Luis to slide in El Nino for a tap-in, and whilst it was a mazy run from Correa, Sporting were awfully guilty of ball-watching as the attack unfolded.
Gijon did maintain an attacking threat late into the game, their hosts albeit strolling towards the final whistle, and although Nacho Cases' shot agonisingly clung to the wrong side of the net in the latter stages, the final word came via Torres' penalty in stoppage time.
- Fact sheet:
5 - Atlético de Madrid: Oblak; Vrsaljko, Savic, Godín, Filipe; Gaitán, Saúl, Koke, Carrasco (Augusto, m. 46); Gameiro (Correa, m. 60), Griezmann (Fernando Torres, m. 68).
0 - Sporting Gijon: Cuéllar; Lillo, Jorge Meré, Amorebieta, Isma López (Viguera, m. 46); Douglas, Sergio Álvarez, Nacho Cases, Víctor Rodríguez (Afif, m. 61); Burgui, Duje Cop.
Goals: 1-0, m. 1: Griezmann. 2-0, m. 5: Gameiro. 3-0, m. 30: Griezmann. 4-0, m. 71: Fernando Torres. 5-0, m. 90: Fernando Torres (p).
