Gareth Bale scored a brace and Marco Asensio registered his first Real Madrid goal as the capital giants began their 2016-17 La Liga challenge with a 3-0 win over Real Sociedad at the Anoeta on Sunday night.
Sociedad huffed and puffed for long stages of the league match, but it was comfortable for the visitors as Bale registered either side of a fine Asensio finish to secure all the points for Zinedine Zidane's side.
Real Madrid entered the match without the services of Karim Benzema, Luka Modric, Pepe, Cristiano Ronaldo and Keylor Navas, which allowed new arrivals Asensio and Alvaro Morata to make the Los Blancos XI. However, there was still no room for James Rodriguez, who is expected to remain in the capital this summer despite a whole host of speculation.
As for Sociedad, it was a fairly quiet summer in terms of new signings, but there were a couple of new faces on display as Juanmi, who arrived from Southampton, led the line, while Spanish teenager David Concha was also included after returning to the Basque outfit following a loan spell with Numancia last season.
It took just two minutes for Real Madrid to make the breakthrough at the Anoeta as Bale, off the back of helping Wales reach the semi-finals of the European Championships in the summer, headed a Dani Carvajal cross into the back of the net to stun the home supporters.
Toni Kroos struck a low effort towards the bottom corner as Los Blancos came close to a second in the 20th minute of action, but Geronimo Rulli got down well to make the save during a period where Sociedad were struggling for inspiration in the final third of the field.
Inigo Martinez might have done better inside the Real Madrid box in the 30th minute as Sociedad came close to a leveller, before Sergio Ramos headed a Kroos free kick over the crossbar during an end-to-end period of the match.
Morata also came close for Los Blancos 10 minutes before the break as he brought a smart save from Rulli in the Sociedad net, but the Argentine goalkeeper could not prevent his team from falling 2-0 behind late in the first period.
It was Asensio that scored Real Madrid's second of the night as the 20-year-old, who spent last season on loan at Espanyol, collected a through-pass from Raphael Varane before chipping the onrushing Rulli to justify Zidane's selection.
Both teams had opportunities in the early stages of the second half, but Juanmi could not make use of a dangerous cross from Concha, before a brilliant piece of defending from Martinez prevented Morata from converting a Mateo Kovacic cross down the other end.
Sociedad also had a strong shout for a penalty when Markel Bergara went down inside the box under a strong challenge from Carvajal, but the referee was not interested despite replays suggesting that a spot kick should have been awarded.
Real Madrid came close to a third in the 55th minute when Morata found space inside the Sociedad box and released a strike towards goal, but Rulli was on hand to make the stop, before Kroos rattled the crossbar during the same phase.
The home supporters stayed with their team for the opening hour, but there were some whistles from the stands as Real Madrid were allowed to keep hold of the ball for long periods without any real pressure from the Basque outfit.
Kovacic's stinging drive was heading for the bottom corner 20 minutes from time as Real Madrid came close once again, but the impressive Rulli once again made a smart stop to keep the score at 2-0.
Carlos Vela was given the final 10 minutes as Sociedad looked to set up a grandstand conclusion, but it was Real Madrid that scored the game's third goal in the fourth minute of additional time when James set up Bale, who rounded Rulli and finished into the empty net.
Next up for Real Madrid is a home game against Celta Vigo next Saturday, while Sociedad will look to bounce back from the defeat when they travel to newly-promoted Osasuna on the same day.
Matt Law
