The start for Bale and Real Madrid could not have been better as Bale soared to score his first of the season inside two minutes.
Gareth Bale took just 72 seconds to score his first goal of the season, and added a second with the last kick of the game against Real Sociedad, as Real madrid got off to winning start in La Liga.
Marco Asensio scored the other goal in the 3-0 win, the 20-year-old was outstanding alongside talisman Bale who led from the front and made sure Madrid never missed Cristiano Ronaldo.
Zinedine Zidane could welcome back Ronaldo next weekend against Celta Vigo but there need be no rush because without their double European Champion – and also missing Pepe, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema, and with James Rodriguez and Isco on the bench – they saw off Real Sociedad with impressive ease.
If there were any doubts that Bale could continue the fine form he showed last season, scoring here in San Sebastian in the run-in, before winning the European Cup and leading Wales to the semi-finals at France 2016 they had evaporated inside two minutes.
It was some header – even by Bale’s standards – he scored 10 last season, more than any other player in Europe’s top league, and he is a match for the missing Ronaldo as Europe’s finest in the air.