Juande Ramos began his time as Real Madrid coach with a straightforward 3-0 win at home to Zenit Saint Petersburg in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Ramos was named as the replacement for Bernd Schuster on Tuesday and had only worked with the Real Madrid team for one training session.
However, he could not have wished for easier rivals to ease him into his new job than the Russian side.
Although Zenit won the UEFA Cup last year and the European Supercup at the start of this season, the team has been very disappointing in the Champions League.
The Russians kicked off knowing they could not qualify for the last 16 in the Champions, but also knowing they would have to lose heavily to finish last in the group and miss out on a place in the next round of the UEFA Cup.
As a result they were well off the pace against a Real Madrid side that looked more motivated as the players looked to please their new coach. Nevertheless it took a mistake from Zenit keeper Vyacheslav Malafeev to allow Raul Gonzalez to score from close range.
Malafeev misjudged a cross from the Madrid left and palmed the ball straight into Raul's path for him to open the scoring.
Knowing he will be missing left back Marcelo among others for Saturday's trip to play Barcelona in the CampNou stadium, Ramos made changes at half time, moving Michel Salgado to left back and asking central defender Christoph Metzelder to play on the right.
With the Russians not showing much inclination to break sweat on a cold Madrid night, the home team scored two more goals. ArjenRobben was allowed time and space to fire home with his left foot five minutes after the break to make it 2-0.
Seven minutes later Raul added his second of the night to roundoff what has to be a satisfactory debut for Ramos.
However, given the category of the opposition, it is safe to assure the new Madrid coach and his side will face a much stiffer test at the weekend.
(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2008)
