MADRID: Real Sociedad showed off their attacking prowess ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League match against Manchester United when the Basque club won 5-0 at home to 10-man Osasuna to climb to seventh in La Liga on Saturday.

Defenders Ion Ansotegi and Inigo Martinez struck with headers either side of halftime at the Anoeta before Osasuna center back Jordan Loties was shown a straight red card for tripping Carlos Vela when he was through on goal.

In-form forward Antoine Griezmann nodded a third in the 56th minute, Gonzalo Castro finished off a sweeping break in the 82nd and substitute Haris Seferovic helped himself to a goal two minutes from time as the visitors crumbled.

San Sebastian-based Sociedad have 17 points from 12 matches, two behind sixth-placed Getafe who host Valencia on Sunday, while Pamplona club Osasuna are mired down in 16th, a point above the relegation places.

Real Madrid can close to within two points of second-placed city rivals Atletico with a win at another Madrid club, struggling Rayo Vallecano.

Atletico are four points behind leaders Barcelona, who won 1-0 in the Catalan derby at home to Espanyol on Friday, before their game on Sunday against fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao.

Sociedad are bottom of Champions League Group A after losing all three of their matches and need a win against United to keep alive their hopes of progressing to the last 16.

The English champions are top on seven points with Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen on six and Shakhtar Donetsk on four ahead of their game in Ukraine.

Friday, Barcelona extended their near-perfect start to the season when Alexis Sanchez struck in a 1-0 win at home to city rivals Espanyol in La Liga.

The victory in the Catalan derby at the Nou Camp put unbeaten champions Barca four points clear of second-placed Atletico Madrid, with 34 points out of a possible 36 after 12 matches.

Their only dropped points came in a 0-0 draw at Osasuna on Oct. 19.

Atletico host Athletic Bilbao on Sunday after Real Madrid, five points behind in third, visit Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.

Alexis grabbed the only goal of a match that Barca dominated without creating many chances.

Neymar somehow managed to thread a cross from the left through the legs of two Espanyol defenders and the Chilean was well positioned at the far post to tap the ball into the net after 68 minutes.

The biggest surprise of the night was that Barca’s World Player of the Year Lionel Messi failed to score for a fourth straight league match in which he played the full 90 minutes, the Argentina forward’s worst run in almost six years.