The defender got on the scoresheet as his side brushed past Eibar on Sunday and vowed to chase the Liga leaders all the way to the end

Sergio Ramos sent a title warning to Barcelona after Real Madrid made a winning return to La Liga action on Sunday.

The club captain was among the goalscorers as Madrid beat Eibar 3-1 at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium to move back to within two points of league leaders Barca, who won 4-0 at Real Mallorca on Saturday.

Toni Kroos and Marcelo scored either side of Ramos in a strong first-half display from the home side, but they were less convincing after the break and conceded when Pedro Bigas deflected a Pablo De Blasis shot past Thibaut Courtois.

Ramos went off after 61 minutes with what he described as "a little knock", which did not help Madrid's cause, but the centre-back was still pleased with the way they returned to action three months after the coronavirus pandemic forced the season to be suspended.

"I'm happy with the three points and to start playing again," he said to La Liga. "We've got 10 more finals and we'll give it everything we've got.

"It was a bit strange for everybody after a tough time for everyone, I want to send, as captain, high spirits to everyone. It has been a strange situation, not being able to go out of the house, but we always have to bring positive things out of bad things.

"To get football back is happiness for the whole country. Everything is returning to its natural place, it's important for everybody – us as well – to get back out on the pitch.

"I think we did well, we worked hard over the last few weeks to come back and to keep the form that maybe we've lost over the last couple of months. We are back and playing in the best possible way, there are a lot of things we can improve but physically we were good.

"The first 45 minutes, we showed good intensity and got the goals to go ahead. A bit less intense in the second half, but that will be something for us to learn from and improve. In general, we were good, we've got things to improve and are happy to get the three points. We will now prepare for the next game in the best way."