Real Madrid have moved to within one point of second-placed Atletico Madrid in La Liga courtesy of a 3-0 win over struggling Las Palmas in Gran Canaria.

Gareth Bale netted twice for the Spanish champions, while Karim Benzema was also on the scoresheet against a Las Palmas side that remain rooted inside the relegation zone.

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane left out a number of first-team players with more than one eye on the club's Champions League quarter-final first leg away to Juventus on Tuesday night.

Indeed, there was no Cristiano Ronaldo, while Sergio Ramos, Marcelo and Toni Kroos were also left out, which gave opportunities to the likes of Jesus Vallejo and Theo Hernandez.

As for Las Palmas, Paco Jemez made just the one change to the team that drew 1-1 with Deportivo La Coruna before the international break, and that came at the back as fit-again Alejandro Galvez replaced David Garcia.

Bale had the ball in the back of the Las Palmas net inside three minutes, but the offside flag cut Real Madrid's celebrations short.

Jonathan Calleri then came close for the home side two minutes later when his powerful strike from distance just missed Keylor Navas's post.

Las Palmas continued to throw players forward in the early exchanges, and Navas had to be alert to keep out a swerving Alen Halilovic effort in the 12th minute.

Real Madrid's first serious chance of the match arrived in the 14th minute when Marco Asensio fed Benzema inside the Las Palmas box, but the Frenchman could not find a route past Leandro Chichizola.

Chichizola then kept out a low Asensio effort in the 24th minute as Real Madrid started to pick holes in the home side's defence.

The opening goal of the match arrived in the 26th minute when a beautiful Luka Modric pass released Bale, and the Welshman found the top corner of the net with an emphatic finish.

It went from bad to worse for Las Palmas in the 38th minute when Calleri brought Lucas Vazquez to the ground inside the penalty box with a rash challenge, and Benzema dispatched the resulting spot kick to double Real Madrid's lead.

Halilovic had the first half-chance of the second period when he worked some space outside the Madrid box, but Navas was always comfortable making the save.

The game was put beyond Las Palmas in the 51st minute, however, when Bale scored the away side's second penalty of the match having been felled by Ximo Navarro inside the box.

Benzema rolled a low cross into Bale just before the hour as Madrid looked for a fourth, but the weight on the ball was just too strong as Las Palmas survived another dangerous moment.

Benzema was next to come close for the visitors in the 67th minute, but the Frenchman saw his close-range strike saved by Las Palmas's busy goalkeeper, before Erik Exposito smashed the ball over the crossbar down the other end following a mistake from Navas.

Calleri hit the top of the Real Madrid crossbar with a header in the 76th minute, before Bale swung one just wide of the post down the other end of the field.

Bale had a couple more half-chances to complete his hat-trick late on, but it finished 3-0 as Real moved to within a point of second-placed Atletico courtesy of a comfortable victory.

LAS PALMAS (4-2-3-1): Chichizola; Michel (Exposito 46'), Ximo, Galvez, Aguirregaray; Vicente (Jairo 46'), J. Castellano; Momo (Ezekiel 85'), Aquilani, Halilovic; Calleri

REAL MADRID (4-3-3): Navas; Nacho (Hakimi 29'), Varane, Vallejo, Theo; Modric (Kovacic 61'), Casemiro (Llorente 61'), Asensio; Lucas, Benzema, Bale