LaLiga: Raul Garcia scores brace as Athletic Bilbao thrash Getafe 5-1

Madrid: Raul Garcia scored twice as Athletic Bilbao maintained their recent impressive run by routing Getafe 5-1 in the Spanish league on Monday. Yeray Alvarez, Alex Berenguer and Oscar de Marcos also scored for Athletic, who a week ago celebrated the Spanish Super Cup title after beating Barcelona in the final and Real Madrid in the semi-finals. On Thursday, they advanced past third-division club Ibiza in the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey. The home victory against Getafe left Athletic in ninth place in the Spanish league, closer to the qualification spots for European competitions. Getafe, sitting in 13th place, opened the scoring through Marc Cucurella in the first minute but were already down 3-1 by halftime. Before the match, Getafe’s players gave Athletic a guard of honor for their Spanish Super Cup success as they entered the field. League leader Atletico Madrid have a seven-point gap to second-placed Real Madrid with a game in hand.