Cristiano Ronaldo was on target as the Andrea Pirlo era at Juventus got off to a perfect start with a comfortable win over Sampdoria in Serie A.
The 35-year-old Portuguese rounded off scoring with Juve’s third after goals from 20-year-old Dejan Kulusevski on his debut and Leonardo Bonucci gave the Old Lady a 2-0 lead at the Juventus Stadium on Sunday.
The win was an excellent start to life as Juventus boss for Pirlo who was taking charge of his first ever competitive match as a manager following his appointment to replaced the sacked Maurizio Sarri at the end of last season.
The legendary midfielder who won four titles with Juventus will hope to cap his first year as a manager by leading the Old Lady to a record-extending 10th consecutive league title.
Elsewhere, Spanish champions Real Madrid got their title defence off to a blunt start as they were held at Real Sociedad for whom former Manchester City great David Silva made his debut.
Real were playing their first league game of the season after they were afforded extra rest time owing to their campaign in last season’s extended Champions League and their rustiness was evident against the home side who had already played a round of matches.
The visitors still created the best chances, nonetheless, and went close through Karim Benzema but couldn’t find the breakthrough.
Silva who joined Sociedad on a free from City following the expiration of his contract was introduced for his debut in the 63rd minute and very nearly snatched a winner late on but in the end, both sides settled for a share of the spoils.
