Defending champions Real Madrid have kicked off their 2018-19 Champions League campaign with a convincing 3-0 win over Roma at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
The home side were dominant throughout and took a deserved lead on the brink of half time through a sublime Isco free kick, which was added to after the restart by Gareth Bale and Mariano Diaz.
In their first Champions League outing since losing manager Zinedine Zidane and star man Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer, Julen Lopetegui made two big calls in recalling Isco in the forward line and Keylor Navas in goal
The early signs were ominous for Roma, who required a big early stop from Robin Olsen to keep out Isco from a one-on-one position, shortly after Gareth Bale had skimmed the outside of the post with his effort.
A Roma side that had 19-year-old debutant Nicolo Zaniolo in their ranks improved early in the second period, with Cengiz Under driving forward and forcing Keylor Navas into a big stop.
A chance was squandered by Luka Modric, denied by Olsen down low, but the Croatian playmaker slotted Bale through just before the hour for that all important second goal.
Bale drilled the ball out of Olsen’s reach for his eighth goal in his last nine outings in the famous white shirt, two of which came in May’s final victory over Liverpool.
Substitutes Marco Asensio and Patrick Schick exchanged shots in the final quarter of the match, while Toni Kroos went one better in testing the opposition keeper, albeit with a routine save.
Asensio produced an impressive turn and should have added a third, but his failure to do so mattered little as Diaz came off the bench for his second debut and curled a third into the back of the net.
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