Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t disappoint in getting his name on the scoresheet as Juventus started off their campaign for a 10th successive Serie A title with a win on Sunday.
Ronaldo finalised Juve’s scoring late on as Juve defeated Sampdoria 3-0 in the opening fixture at the Allianz Stadium.
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Debutant Dejan Kulusevski put defending champions ahead in the 13th minute before late goals from Leonardo Bonucci and Ronaldo sealed victory.
FT | ⏱ | A BRILLIANT START TO THE SEASON!!! ⚽️⚽️⚽️#JuveSamp #FinoAllaFine #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/7THNExrPiP
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) September 20, 2020
In Sunday’s other Serie A matches, second-half goals from Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne fired Napoli to a 2-0 win at Parma, Genoa defeated Crotone 4-1 and Sassuolo drew 1-1 with Cagliari.
While Ronaldo was helping Juve off to winning start, his former club Real Madrid had to settle for a goalless draw at Real Sociedad in the opening match of their LaLiga title defence.
Madrid, who this weekend saw Gareth Bale depart for Tottenham, could not find the breakthrough in a clash that could have gone either way at the Anoeta.
Granada and Real Betis, who have both played twice, lead the table on six points after both picked up wins on Sunday, Granada beating Alaves 2-1 and Betis seeing off Real Valladolid 2-0.
Also in Spain, veteran striker Alvaro Negredo scored the opener as Cadiz downed Huesca 2-1 in the battle of the promoted sides.
In the opening round in Germany, Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen shared a goalless draw as RB Leipzig kicked off their campaign with a 3-1 win over Mainz.
An Emil Forsberg penalty and a Yussuf Poulsen effort put last season’s Champions League semi-finalists in charge and although Jean-Philippe Mateta pulled a goal back, Amadou Haidara wrapped up the points for the hosts.