Real Madrid began their quest for a fourth consecutive Champions League title by overcoming Roma 3-0.Los Blancos are without Cristiano Ronaldo for this campaign but they still made light work of the Italians.Isco broke the deadlock in the 45th minute after brilliantly curling home a free-kick on the edge of the box.Gareth Bale doubled their tally 13 minutes into the second half as he latched on to a tremendous Luka Modric through ball and fired past Robin Olsen.Mariano then added Madrid's third in the dying moments to ensure he scored on his second debut for the club.It really was a satisfactory performance from Madrid and one that cements their status as one of the favourites to lift the trophy once again.One man who is having a growing influence on the team is Marco Asensio.The Spanish midfielder is one of the most gifted players in world football and his talent was on show at the Bernabeu.One moment in particular had the Bernabeu on their feet.With Madrid 2-0 up and looking as if they would cruise to victory, Asensio nearly scored one of the most outrageous goals of the year so far.Asensio absolutely destroyed two Roma players with an outrageous turn before attempting an audacious no look shot.Unfortunately, his attempt was saved, preventing what would have been one of the goals of the year so far.

One man who was not happy, however, was Julen Lopetegui.

The Spanish manager turned away in disgust when he saw Asensio could not put the ball in the back of the net.

What an outrageous goal that would have been.

Many doubted that Madrid would be able to replicate their success given the departure of Ronaldo this summer, but this performance goes to show they are still the team to beat this season.

They go to top spot in Group G after the other game in the group between CSKA Moscow and FC Viktoria Plzeň ended in a 1-1 draw.