Real Madrid started their defense of the title in the Champions League with an easy victory against APOEL (3-0). Los Blancos controlled the game from the beginning and Cristiano Ronaldo was the star with two goals in his first appearance this season at Santiago Bernabéu.
The big news in the line-up was the introduction of Cristiano Ronaldo -very expected- and Mateo Kovacic because Toni Kroos needed some rest. Real Madrid started with the ball, but had difficulties to create chances because APOEL were defending very good. Actually, the team from Cyprus arrived with some danger to Keylor’s goal.
Everything changed when Cristiano Ronaldo touched the ball in the box. Gareth Bale gave a great assist from the left wing and the Portuguese scored at the first touch. The bad news arrived in the 20th minute. Kovacic fell on the ground and he asked for the substitution due a muscular problem. The chosen one was Toni Kroos instead of Dani Ceballos, who is not trusted in these first months.
Real Madrid kept the possession in the last minutes of the first half, trying hard, but APOEL knew how to defend and didn’t allow any chances. The second half started more interesting. Cristiano Ronaldo was about to score in the second minute, but he hit the bar when was very easy to find the net. Just two minutes later, Cristiano put the ball in the goal, scoring the second goal. And in the 53rd minute, Cristiano claimed another penalty, but this time the referee didn’t whistle.
Real Madrid arrived with much more danger to the rival goal and Sergio Ramos scored the third one with a great volley in the 61st. Some more goals could arrive, and actually the referee whistle offside when Cristiano found again the net, but Los Blancos didn’t need them.
It was an easy evening to start the Champions League. APOEL didn’t create any chances and it was a good game to recover the self-confidence before playing away against Real Sociedad, a tough team. Some players like Ceballos and Mayoral could enjoy some minutes in this great competition.
