Atletico had scored just four goals in their previous six La Liga games, but ran riot at the Ciutat de Valencia for their first victory at Levante in six visits.

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 5-0 rout, netting for the first time in seven league games.

Atletico are third, tied with fourth-placed Real on 27 points after 13 games while Barcelona, on 34, visit second-placed Valencia on Sunday with the chance to move seven points clear at the top of the standings.

"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.