It takes a lot to overshadow the performance of Cristiano Ronaldo -- especially given his recent form.

After his midweek all-action showing against former employer Manchester United and a goal which had experts running out of superlatives, the Real Madrid man had a much quieter night.

Instead, it was left to teammate Sergio Ramos to take the headlines as Real took on local rival Rayo Vallecano at the Bernabeu.

Leading 1-0 through young striker Morata, Ramos headed home to extend his side's advantage on 12 minutes for his first contribution of the evening.

His next, however, was not so clever. A foul on Roberto Trashorras earned him a yellow card and just 45 seconds later, he was shown a second for handball.

Off he trudged with 18 minutes on the clock, a goal, two yellow cards and an early bath.

While receiving two bookings within 45 seconds is unusual, Ramos' dismissal is anything but.

The Spain international has been sent off 17 times in his career, 16 of those coming at Real with the other at former club Sevilla.

His 12th red card in La Liga left Real with work to do, but with a two goal cushion already in hand, it easily held out to claim a 2-0 victory.

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid bounced back from its Europa League disappointment with a 3-0 win at Real Valladolid.

Radamel Falcao scored his 20th league goal of the season with Diego Costa and Cristian Rodriguez also on target.

Those three points keeps Atletico 12 points behind leader Barcelona and four clear of Real going into matchday 25.

Valencia moved up to fifth with a 2-0 win over Mallorca, while Espanyol defeated Real Betis 1-0 and Real Sociedad was held to a 1-1 draw by Levante.

In England, Chelsea booked its place in the fifth round of the FA Cup, the country's historic domestic knockout competition.

Rafael Benitez's side defeated third-tier Brentford 4-0 at Stamford Bridge in a replay following a 2-2 draw in the previous game.

Chelsea will now face second-tier side Middlesbrough with the winners of that game going on to play either Manchester United or Reading.

Manchester City saw off second-tier side Leeds United 4-0 to reach the quarterfinals, while Wigan also progressed after a 4-1 win at Huddersfield.

In the only Premier League game of the day, Liverpool thrashed Swansea 5-0 to move into seventh.

In Italy, Fiorentina produced the performance of the day by crushing Inter 4-1.

Two goals each from Adem Ljajic and Stevan Jovetic gave the Viola all three points with Antonio Cassano registering a late consolation for the visitor.