Ronalso took less than a minute to score on his Real Madrid debut and added a second goal as the European champions ran out 5-2 winners against visitors Alaves yesterday.

The Brazilian World Cup winner made his first appearance since signing from Inter Milan when he came on as a substitute for Jose Maria Gutierrez in the 64th minute, with an almost-capacity 71,000 supporters raising the roof of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Fifty seconds later Ronaldo put his new club 3-1 up against the Basques.

Ronaldo repaid another chunk of his transfer fee by finding the net again 12 minutes from time after Steve McManaman set it up for him.

Malaga and Real Sociedad, like Real Madrid, continue to be unbeaten after victories yesterday and maintain their early challenge for the championships. Atletico Madrid had no holiday on the Costa Del Sol as Malaga thrashed them 3-1 and the visitors from the Spanish capital ended the game with only eight men.

In Italy, Inter Milan maintained their 100 per cent record to stay top of the table after an impressive 4-1 victory over Piacenza yesterday.

AC Milan remain second in the table on 10 points, two points behind the Serie A leaders, thanks to a 6-0 thrashing of Torino in which striker Pippo Inzaghi notched a hat-trick, while Juventus lost ground after being held 1-1 at home to Como.

Inter coach Hector Cuper was delighted with the way his team responded after their dismal performance in midweek when they lost 2-1 at home to Lyon in the Champions League.

Cuper praised his stand-in goalkeeper Alberto Fontana whose saves kept Inter in the match after a spell of Piacenza pressure.

"Fontana was fantastic," Cuper said of the 35-year-old who replaced injured number one Francesco Toldo between the posts. "He made three brilliant saves but his stop from Dario Hubner in the first half was crucial as we were only leading by one

goal at the time."

Despite chalking up their fourth straight Serie A win, Cuper still believes there is room for improvement.