Substitute Marco Asensio made an immediate impact by scoring two early second-half goals as Real Madrid rallied to beat Juventus 3-1 in a pre-season exhibition contest on Saturday.
Asensio entered the game at the start of the second half and scored less than two minutes in before adding another in the 56th minute.
Marco Asensio was on fire during Real Madrid's 3-1 victory over Juventus ?#ICC2018 pic.twitter.com/gywwreY3fe
— Goal (@goal) August 5, 2018
It was the first defeat of the pre-season and the final match of the International Champions Cup campaign for Italy's Juventus. The Serie A champions now open up their title defense at Chievo on August 18.
They were without new signing Cristiano Ronaldo, who did not make his debut against his former team. The Portuguese superstar skipped the club's US tour because he was recovering from his World Cup performance.
???⚽ Watch ALL the GOALS from last night's 3-1 win against @juventusfcen NOW! Just click the image below! ?#RMTour | #HalaMadridhttps://t.co/d2EmfQ7sXN
— Real Madrid C.F. ???? (@realmadriden) August 5, 2018
Gareth Bale also scored for the European champions as the Welshman served notice that he is going to produce despite the loss of Ronaldo.
Bale hit a stunning shot from 20 yards out in the 39th minute to level the score at 1-1 in the front of the crowd of 60,000 at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland.
Bale finished with 16 La Liga goals last season and is in his fifth campaign with Real Madrid.
Real Madrid beat Juventus in a friendly on Saturday - but there was no Cristiano Ronaldo ? https://t.co/n14ZP5Wqfo pic.twitter.com/Rz2hEIT5TR
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 5, 2018
Asensio subbed in after half-time and wasted no time getting on the board. He finished off a drive by side-footing a shot home in the 47th minute on a rush with Vinicius Jr., who also entered the game at half-time.
Asensio scored just nine minutes later to make it 3-1 for Real Madrid on another unselfish pass, this time from Lucas Vazquez. Asensio's shot deflected off the right arm of Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and trickled into the net.
Juventus' lone score came in the 12th minute on an own goal by Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal.
All over at @FedExField! @realmadrid come from behind to defeat @juventusfc 3-1 at #ICC2018. Two goals from @marcoasensio10 and a wonder-strike from @GarethBale11 seals victory ⚪️
— International Champions Cup (@IntChampionsCup) August 5, 2018
Full time brought to you by @Konami pic.twitter.com/dLB7seqTSk
Carvajal was trying to corral Joao Cancelo's left side cross when he deflected the ball into his own net.
It was the first pre-season defeat for Juventus, who were without many of their key attackers for their US tour, including Douglas Costa, Paulo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic.
In earlier matches, Juventus beat Bayern Munich, Benfica and the Major League Soccer All-Stars.
