Who needs Cristiano Ronaldo? Zinedine Zidane delighted with Gareth Bale and Marco Asensio after Real Madrid record La Liga win over Real Sociedad
The European champions opened their domestic campaign with a 3-0 win despite the absences of the Portugal captain and Karim Benzema
Zinedine Zidane praised goalscorers Gareth Bale and Marco Asensio after Real Madrid got their La Liga campaign off to a strong start with a 3-0 win at Real Sociedad on Sunday.
The Real coach was without first choice forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema through injury, but a trip to a ground that has caused them plenty of problems in the past got off to a flying start when Bale headed home in the second minute.
Asensio doubled the lead five minutes before half-time with a splendid lob and Bale put an extra shine on the win with a further goal in injury time.
Bale returned to preseason training later than most of his Real teammates due to reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2016 with Wales, which Zidane said made his dominant performance even more impressive.
“I’m delighted for him because he’s behind the rest of the players in terms of fitness but you couldn’t tell,” Zidane said.
“He started in the best way possible, scoring an early goal, because this is a difficult ground if you don’t take your chances.