Cristiano Ronaldo hit his sixth hat-trick of the season as Real Madrid took a huge step towards winning La Liga, coming from behind to beat Levante 4-2 and open a 10-point lead over Barcelona.

After Gustavo Cabral gave Levante a surprise early lead, Ronaldo got his first from the penalty spot yesterday following a handball by Vicente Iborra, who was also dismissed for his second yellow card.

Ronaldo headed home a Gonzalo Higuain cross after 49 minutes and then completed his hat-trick with a wonderful 30-yard strike which flew into the roof of the net.

An Arouna Kone header briefly gave a glimmer of hope forLevante but Karim Benzema slotted in a fourth for Real after 65 minutes.

While Barcelona, beaten 3-2 by Osasuna on Saturday, have stuttered on their travels, Real have been in ominous form winning 19 of 22 games and scoring 75 goals which has put them on course for their first league title since 2008.

Levante are the only team along with Barcelona to have beaten Real this season and when Cabral headed home a free-kick, which flicked off Sergio Ramos, after just four minutes, Real must have feared another setback.

But Ronaldo's penalty, a minute before the break, helped settled their nerves.

"There are still a lot of points and a lot of matches ahead with all of them difficult because there is a lot atstake," said Real coach Jose Mourinho.

"We need 39 points more to be champions -- 13 victories but these 10 points now give us a margin for error."