Captain Raul fired Real Madrid to within four points of Primera Division leaders Barcelona after his hat-trick helped see off third-placed Sevilla 4-2 at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
Raul, who earlier this season become the leading scorer in Madrid's history after passing Alfredo Di Stefano's tally of three hundred and seven, struck in the forty-fifth, sixty-third and sixty-sixth minutes to continue his side's amazing run of form under former Sevilla coach Juande Ramos.
The two-time reigning champions have now claimed fifty-two out of a possible fifty-four points, while today's victory saw them break a club record with their eighth successive away victory.
More importantly though, Madrid managed to get a little closer to Barcelona - who drew with Valencia last night - ahead of next weekend's mouth watering showdown between the top two at the Bernabeu.