Gareth Bale on Sunday scored twice to help Real Madrid start La Liga with a 3-0 victory at Real Sociedad, while Atletico Madrid were held 1-1 after conceding a last-gasp goal to Deportivo Alaves.
Both title hopefuls from the capital outplayed their opponents. The difference was that Madrid proved more ruthless, and that was largely thanks to Bale.
Bale, who last month guided Wales to the semi-finals of the European Championship, led a Madrid side that was on the road for its La Liga opener without Cristiano Ronaldo and several other first-choice players.
Photo: AFP
His second-minute header set Madrid on its way to a comfortable win that youngster Marco Asensio put beyond doubt with his second goal in as many matches for the reigning European champions.
Bale wrapped up his brace by scoring in the closing seconds of the one-sided game at Anoeta Stadium.
Barcelona also won their season opener, a 6-2 rout of Real Betis Balompie on Saturday, but Atletico fell two points behind the powerhouses right out of the gates of what it hopes to make a three-way championship race for a fourth straight year.
Diego Simeone’s side dominated Alaves, hitting the woodwork twice, and peppering the visitors’ goalmouth with a barrage of shots that only increased as the match went on.
Kevin Gameiro appeared to have secured the win in his debut for Atletico after he converted a stoppage-time penalty, which was earned by Fernando Torres when he was fouled by Victor Laguardia.
However, Alaves’ Manu Garcia stunned Atletico with a long-distance strike seconds before the whistle in just his team’s second venture forward.
“It leaves a sour taste in my mouth, because we had it won, but that’s football,” Simeone said. “You win by scoring goals, and we couldn’t convert.”
Elsewhere, some of Real Sporting de Gijon’s fans marred their 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao with racist chants aimed at Bilbao’s Inaki Williams. The match’s referee briefly stopped the match for the public announcer to ask for the abusive chants to stop.
Madrid entered the Sociedad match without some of their key players, most importantly Ronaldo, who is recovering from an injury sustained in the Euro 2016 final.
They were also without Karim Benzema, Pepe, Luka Modric and goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
However, with Bale at his best, their absences went largely unnoticed.
Bale’s bullet header to thump Dani Carvajal’s pinpoint cross into the corner of the net appeared to demoralize Sociedad right from the start. It was his first goal of the new season after he was unfit to play the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla last week.
Zidane started the 20-year-old Asensio over Colombia star James Rodriguez, who not long ago was considered among the club’s top talents. Asensio proved the right choice when he scored five minutes before halftime.
Sociedad’s slack defending left open a hole at the back that Asensio exploited with a run met by Raphael Varane’s long pass. Asensio deftly controlled the lob before chipping goalie Geronimo Rulli, adding another classy goal to his superb strike that helped Madrid beat Sevilla in the season’s curtain raiser.
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