JOIN USAtletico Madrid recorded their biggest win of the season by thrashing Levante 5-0 in La Liga on Saturday.
Atletico took advantage of some woeful defending from their hosts, whose defender Rober Pier scored an own goal in the fifth minute while Kevin Gameiro cashed in on a dreadful attempted clearance by Chema Rodriguez to tap in the second in the 29th.
Gameiro struck again after the interval while Antoine Griezmann scored twice in the space of three minutes to complete the rout, netting for the first time in seven league games.
Atletico are third, tied with fourth-placed Real on 27 points after 13 games.
"This was a great performance from us, we began with an early goal and put them under a lot of pressure and created a lot of chances," Gameiro told reporters.
"It's great to score five goals but we have to keep working like this."
Atletico also set a club record of 13 games unbeaten at the start of a season, bettering their previous tally of 12 from the 1995-96 campaign when they won a league and Cup double.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Real Betis and Girona played out a thrilling 2-2 draw with three goals in a frantic finale while Eibar won a local derby at Alaves 2-1.