Ronaldo-less Madrid cruise to opening win

Real Madrid looked to control possession at Riazor from the start, but it was the home side that enjoyed the first two big chances of the game.

Striker Florin Andone showed strength to hold off Carvajal down the left and then got a shot away which was cleared by Navas, but only two minutes later the Romanian found himself one-on-one with the keeper again, Navas denying Andone with a smart save.

While Zidane's men looked comfortable on the ball, they were lacking some spark in the final third to create chances for goalkeeper Ruben. Deportivo defended well, but all their hard work was undone in the 20th minute.

Ruben spilled Modric's shot from the edge of the area and Benzema made a mess of the rebound with the ball falling for Bale. The Welshman tapped in Madrid's first goal in La Liga from close range.

Deportivo were forced to take a step forward as Real Madrid continued to control the middle of the park and with their second shot of the game, the visitors doubled their lead.

Marcelo provided the low cross from the left and the unlikely recipient in the six-yard box was holding midfielder Casemiro, who side-footed home at the back post.

Real Madrid continued to assert their dominance against a powerless Deportivo, which frustrated Florin Andone who never gave up the fight. Things began to flare up after the break as Schar and Ramos clashed, earning the two defenders a booking each. The Austrian defender appeared to put his head on Ramos, who shoved him in the face for it and it all kicked off. 

With the hosts looking eager to get into the game and searching for the goal to do so, Madrid found the back of the net again to kill the match. A fast-flowing move from Zidane's team which saw Gareth Bale pull the ball back at the byline for an unmarked Kroos to side-foot his finish past Ruben.

Just moments later, Guillherme attempted to find a way back as he blasted the ball against the crossbar, but it was not to be for Deportivo.

As the match went into the final stages, it looked over, but there was more action to come. Asensio forced a good save from Ruben lifting the ball over the wall from a free-kick.

In the 88th minute, Carvajal gave away a cheap penalty after a rash tackle on Bruno Gama. Andone was the one to step up and try to get his team the consolation goal, but his strike summed up his own as well as his team's disappointing night. The striker scuffed his shot wide with Navas getting his fingertips to be ball which was drifting wide anyway.

As we reached stoppage time, Ramos and Valle went up for a header and the referee saw an elbow from the Real Madrid captain. Ramos saw a second yellow card and was dismissed in what is his 18th career red card.

A convincing performance from Zidane's team who get their La Liga title defence of to a winning start.