Cristiano Ronaldo makes a memorable return as Real Madrid thumps Osasuna. Image : Twitter@FIFA.com[/caption]Internet Desk : After sitting out the start of his season as he recovered from the knee injury sustained against France in the final, superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was finally let loose, to do what he does best. The Portuguese legend took just six minutes to open the scoring against La Liga minnows Osasuna.
A host of different scorers followed suit, with Danilo, Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Luka Modric all finding the back of the net, while Oriol Riera pulled one back for Osasuna and Kiko Casilla saved a Roberto Torres penalty, before David Garcia grabbed another and Cayetano Bonnin was sent off.
Zidane decided to rest Marcelo, James Rodriguez and Casemiro at the start of a run but it didn’t matter. This match’s path was marked from the start as Cristiano Ronaldo had his target set to showcase his come back.
The biggest threat to Zinedine Zidane’s team, with baking heat at the Santiago Bernabeu leaving officials checking the temperature before kick-off. However, the mercury stayed a couple of degrees below the 36 degree limit league president Javier Tebas hinted would result in a postponement.
Ramos’ header means he has scored in each of the last 13 La Liga seasons, equalling the all-time record of former Athletic Bilbao star Aitor Larrazabal.
Madrid were playing with a swagger, Modric making time stand still as he sharply turned away from two players, leaving them dumfounded.
Osasuna players were also left flabbergasted by some awful goalkeeping from Nauzet, failing to prevent Pepe’s header from finding the back of the net even though it was directed straight at the goalkeeper.
Modric whipped home an excellent fifth from outside the area, before substitute Oriol Riera pulled one back with a firm header from Miguel Anguel de las Cuevas’ cross.
Any hope of an unlikely late comeback for Osasuna was ended when Cayetano Bonnin was dismissed for his second yellow card, allowing Madrid to see the rest of the game out.
It’s three games, three wins for Los Blancos, and Zidane’s team are beginning to play with a cohesion that wasn’t there even as they won the Champions League last season.
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