Toni Kroos’ first-half goal was enough to hand Real Madrid their first Champions League win of the season at Galatasaray.
After picking up one point from their opening two games in Europe, and losing in the league at Mallorca on the weekend, the win lifts the pressure on Real head coach Zinedine Zidane.
Kroos opened the scoring in the first half in his 100th Champions League appearance, and that was enough to hand Real all three points.
The win lifts Real up to second in Group A at the halfway stage, though they are five points off Paris Saint-Germain, who thrashed Club Brugge to maintain their perfect start.
Elsewhere, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min both struck twice as Tottenham Hotspur rekindled their Champions League hopes with a 5-0 thrashing of Red Star Belgrade on Tuesday.
After suffering their heaviest home defeat in Europe on matchday two, a 7-2 hammering by Bayern Munich, they bounced back to claim their biggest win in the Champions League.
Red Star arrived in second place in Group B behind Bayern Munich while Tottenham were desperate to kickstart their European campaign after taking only one point from two games.
Once Kane headed in Erik Lamela’s corner after nine minutes and Son’s half-volley, also from a Lamela assist, made it 2-0 after 16 minutes the gloom of a troubling start to the season for Mauricio Pochettino’s team on all fronts began to lift.
Red Star responded well to the early setbacks but Son’s second just before halftime made the result a formality.
The excellent Lamela, making his 200th appearance, turned well to curl in a fourth in the 57th minute and Kane’s exquisite finish in the 72nd minute took his Champions League tally to 18 goals in 22 appearances.
Victory put Tottenham into second spot with four points, five behind runaway leaders Bayern and one clear of Red Star who they face in the Serbian capital in a fortnight.
Also, Raheem Sterling scored an 11-minute second-half hat-trick as Manchester City ruthlessly demolished Atalanta to maintain their 100% start in Champions League Group C.
This turned into another emphatic statement of City’s attacking power but it was a far from perfect evening for Pep Guardiola with Rodri limping off with a hamstring injury and Phil Foden sent off for two late bookings.
In Belgium, Kylian Mbappe came off the bench to grab a second-half hat-trick and inspire Paris St Germain to a runaway 5-0 victory at Belgium’s Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The win kept up their 100% record in Group A with the French team on nine points at the halfway mark and on the cusp of qualification for the next phase, a comfortable five points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid.
Juventus forward Paulo Dybala scored twice in three minutes late in the game to give the Turin side a 2-1 win over Lokomotiv Moscow on Tuesday after the Russians had taken a shock first-half lead.
In other results, Bayern Munich held onto to claim a 3-2 win at Olympiacos, Shakhtar Donetsk drew 2-2 with Dinamo Zagreb and Alvaro Morata scored the winner as Atletico Madrid beat Bayer Leverkusen by a lone goal.
