A Gareth Bale brace and a Marco Asensio lob helped Real Madrid make light work of Real Sociedad, running out 3-0 winner at Anoeta in its opening game of the season in La Liga.
Back from his post-Euro 2016 holidays, Bale was fit enough to play in Sunday’s game, as Zinedine Zidane’s team travelled to San Sebastian in the midst of an injury crisis, with five regular starters unable to make the squad.
Star forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, Luka Modric, Keylor Navas and Pepe missed the tie.
The results :
La Liga: Real Sociedad 0 lost to Real Madrid 3 (Bale 2, 90, Asensio 40); Atletico Madrid 1 (Gameiro 90+3-pen) drew with Alaves 1 (Manu Garcia 90+5); Sporting Gijon 2 (Cop 50, Victor Rodriguez 53) bt Athletic Bilbao 1 (Borja Viguera 85).
Serie A: Bologna 1 (Destro 86) bt Crotone 0; Atalanta 3 (Kessie 63, 67, Petagna 90+1) lost to Lazio 4 (Immobile 15, Hoedt 20, Lombardi 33, Cataldi 89); Chievo 2 (Birsa 49, 81) bt Inter Milan 0; Empoli 0 lost to Sampdoria 1 (Muriel 37); Genoa 3 (Ntcham 78, Laxalt 79, Rigoni 88) bt Cagliari 1 (Borriello 66); Palermo 0 lost to Sassuolo 1 (Berardi 31-pen); Pescara 2 (Benali 8, Caprari 35) drew with Napoli 2 (Mertens 60, 63); AC Milan 3 (Bacca 38, 50, 62-pen) bt Torino 2 (Belotti 48, Baselli 90+1).