REAL MADRID OPENED their first La Liga campaign under Julen Lopetegui with a 2-0 win over Getafe at the Santiago Bernabeu.

In the first league game since Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure to Juventus, Gareth Bale seized his chance to impress, setting up Dani Carvajal for the opening goal before scoring the second himself after the break.

Lopetegui suffered a 4-2 defeat to rivals Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup in his first competitive game in charge, but a 10th league win in a row over Getafe looked likely once Carvajal broke the deadlock.

Madrid, who started Keylor Navas over Thibaut Courtois in goal, were not quite firing on all cylinders but never looked likely to throw away a result given Getafe did not manage a shot until the 69th minute.

Bale, starting wide on the right, hit the bar with a diving header early on before Carvajal made it 1-0 20 minutes in, nodding the ball over David Soria after the keeper had punched Bale’s cross half-clear.

Getafe handed them a second goal six minutes after the restart, when Bale’s shot was parried into the net by Soria after Marco Asensio had stolen the ball from centre-back Djene Dakonam, giving Lopetegui a satisfactory start to life in the top flight.

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