Ronaldo scores in APOEL stroll

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice on his return as Real Madrid opened their Champions League campaign with a 3-0 victory over APOEL on Wednesday.

In what felt like a training match for most part, Ronaldo announced his comeback with two clinical finishes, before Sergio Ramos’ overhead kick rounded off the win.

The Portuguese had completed his five-match ban for shoving a referee, but Marco Asensio was absent after he suffered a freak infection from shaving his leg.

Needing just 12 minutes to get on the scoresheet, the No 7 helped himself to a simple tap-in after Gareth Bale squared the ball for him at the far post.

Ronaldo almost got his second goal moments later, but his header landed into the side-netting.

Madrid suffered a blow when Mateo Kovacic pulled up after just 25 minutes, but the No 7 nonetheless came close to scoring a carbon copy of his first goal, only this time sliding wide of the target.

Ronaldo was at the heart of every Merengues move as he then led a counterattack and received Dani Carvajal's ricochet, but his daisy-cutter flew wide of Waterman’s left-hand post.

The superstar was at it again shortly after the restart, but his finish from a yard out crashed against the bar and bounced on the line.

Despite his protests that the ball went in, the goal-decision system proved the referee was correct not to let it stand.

Ronaldo eventually bagged his second via an APOEL hand in the box, allowing him to fire the resulting penalty into Waterman’s bottom right.

The victory was soon rounded off by Ramos, who netted an overhead kick from a yard out.

Two more chances saw Ronaldo pull in from the left but have his close-range shot saved by Waterman, before Isco dragged inches wide of the left-hand post.

The result moved Madrid to the top of Group H on goal difference after Tottenham Hotspur’s 3-1 win against Borussia Dortmund.

Real Madrid 3-0 APOEL

Ronaldo 12, 51, Ramos 61 (RM)