A hat-trick from Roberto Soldado gave Valencia a 3-0 win against BATE Borisov in the Champions League.
After the Belarussian champions defeated Bayern Munich on matchday two, you'd have been forgiven for thinking that Mauricio Pellegrino's men may hold tight during the opening exchanges.
Los Che though, dominated possession early on, and almost went a goal up inside 10 minutes. Soldado had a shot from the right-hand side of the area, but his powerful effort was saved well by Andrei Gorbunov.
Andres Guardado had another good effort for the visitors moments later, but they couldn't find a way past the ageing keeper.
Slowly though, the home team started to get back into the game, and began to dominate possession for the first time. Alexander Pavlov was causing a few problems down the left with his darting runs, but clear-cut chances remained at a premium.
The deadlock was broken however, on the stroke of half-time, as Soldado was brought down inside the area, and the former Getafe man dusted himself off to convert the spot-kick and give his side the lead.
The second 45 began in much the same way the opening period did, with Valencia dominating possession and threatening to score.
And that's exactly what they did on 55 minutes. A deep cross from Guardado found Soldado, and this time he volleyed in beautifully to double his team's lead.
The result was never in doubt, but Soldado put an extra gloss on the win midway through the half, as he linked up with Tino Costa on the edge of the area, before firing past Gorbunov and into the back of the net.
BATE 0-3 Valencia
Scorers: Soldado 45, 55, 69 (V)
BATE Borisov: Gorbunov; Polyakov, Filipenko, Simic, Bordachov; Volodko (Bressan 75), Likhtarovich (Sivakov 53), Olekhnovich; Hleb, Pavlov (Mozolevski 68); Rodionov
Valencia: Diego Alves; Joao Pereira, Rami, Ricardo Costa, Cissokho; Albelda (Banega 72), Gago; Feghouli (Barragan 83), Costa, Guardado; Soldado (Jonas 77)
