Cristiano Ronaldo converted two penalties as Real Madrid battled to a hard-fought 4-1 away win at Valencia in La Liga on Saturday, lifting the gloom of recent poor results for the defending Spanish and European champions.

Real Madrid’s German midfielder Toni Kroos (L) celebrates a goal with Real Madrid’s Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo during the Spanish league football match between Valencia CF and Real Madrid CF at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia on January 27, 2018. / AFP PHOTO

Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema all started together for the first time in 279 days, but this was no walk in the park for Zinedine Zidane’s men, who had to fight until late strikes from Marcelo and Toni Kroos relieved the tension.

Real are still fourth in the table, 16 points behind Barcelona.