Madrid: Real Madrid put their La Liga woes behind them to get their defence of the Champions League off to a flying start with a 5-1 hammering of Basel on Tuesday.


Real Madrid-s Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo L, Real Madrid-s Welsh forward Gareth Bale C, Real Madrid-s French forward Karim Benzema Rand Real Madrid-s Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez celebrate after scoring their third goal during the UEFA Champions League football match Real Madrid CF vs FC Basel 1893 at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid. Pic/AFP 

The hosts, who had suffered a second consecutive league defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid at the weekend, went in front thanks to Marek Suchy-s own goal and then struck three times in six minutes to end the game as a contest. Gareth Bale finished off a lovely move involving Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo before Ronaldo and James Rodriguez tapped home from close range.