Life in the Champions League without Cristiano Ronaldo began for Real Madrid with a comfortable 3-0 win over Roma on Wednesday.
Ronaldo’s Champions League experience at Juventus, however, went considerably worse: He received a controversial red card in a 2-0 victory against Valencia, and now faces a suspension that could keep him out of a highly anticipated return to Manchester United next month.
In Madrid, Isco, Gareth Bale and Mariano Diaz took care of the scoring to secure an opening victory in Group G for Madrid, the three-time defending champions. Madrid is playing the Champions League without Ronaldo for the first time since 2009, when the star forward arrived to lead the club to an eventual four European titles.