BARCELONA, Spain – Vinícius Júnior scored a hat trick to lead Real Madrid to a 4-0 victory over Osasuna on Saturday in a much-needed victory that was marred when teammate Éder Militão was stretchered off.

Madrid had heard boos in their previous two home games: a 4-0 loss to fierce rival Barcelona and a 3-1 loss to AC Milan.

But the easy victory may have come at a high price.

Militão was substituted after the central defender fell to the grass while screaming and clutching the back of his right knee shortly before half-time. Rodrygo and Lucas Vázquez were also unable to continue after apparently suffering muscle injuries in the first half.

Vinícius, who felt overlooked when the Ballon d’Or went to Spaniard Rodri last week, scored his second hat-trick of the season and raised his overall tally to 12 goals. Jude Bellingham’s goal had made it 2-0.

Madrid occupies second place in the Spanish league, six points behind leader Barcelona.

Rodrygo appeared to suffer a muscle injury early in the match. The forward, who missed the classic due to another injury, cried as he walked cautiously to the bench, where a team doctor put ice on his left leg.

The worst was yet to come for coach Carlo Ancelotti when Militão went down. He covered his face with his shirt as he was carried away on a stretcher half an hour later.

A sleepy Santiago Bernabéu came back to life thanks to Vinícius when he cut back and scored the first goal in the 34th minute.

Real Madrid right back Dani Carvajal was already ruled out for this season due to a serious leg injury. Goalkeeper Courtois Thibaut, David Alaba and Aurélien Tchouaméni were also unavailable due to their own injuries.

Ancelotti replaced Militão with youth team player Raúl Asencio, who took advantage of his debut by launching a long pass that Bellingham took advantage of with a touch to beat goalkeeper Sergio Herrera and double the lead in the 42nd.

Vinícius received another long pass, this time from goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, before rounding Herrera to make it 3-0 in the 61st. He got his third after substitute Brahim Díaz stole the ball from defender Flavien-Enzo Boyomo and left pass his fellow scorer in the 69th.

While Vinícius soared, his strike partner Kylian Mbappé remained stagnant and failed to score after France failed to call him up for a second consecutive international spell.

Osasuna, the only team to beat Barcelona in the League this season, failed to get a shot on goal.

Before kickoff, Madrid unfurled a huge banner in the stands representing the flag of the Spanish region of Valencia during a moment of silence for the more than 200 people who died in last week’s catastrophic floods in eastern Spain.

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