Cristiano Ronaldo Sent Off, Real Madrid Top Barcelona in Super Cup 1st Leg

A dreamy return to action for Real Madrid ended as a nightmare for Cristiano Ronaldo after he came off the bench to score in the first leg of their 3-1 Spanish Super Cup win over Barcelona before being sent off.

Lionel Messi equalised from the penalty spot following Gerard Pique's own-goal opener for Los Blancos, and Ronaldo received a late second yellow card for simulation, having earlier been cautioned for removing his shirt celebrating his strike.

Another substitute, Marco Asensio, mimicked Ronaldo's own super strike with a bulleted goal of his own to establish what could prove to be a vital two-goal cushion at the end of the 90 minutes.

The two teams will have just a few days to recover before heading to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu for the second leg of this year's Spanish Super Cup on Wednesday.

It was plain to see that this Clasico had come before the season has begun in earnest, with both teams somewhat lacking in the usual fire that an occasion such as this tends to coax out of its players.

While far from lacking in quality of the exchanges, the rivals were tentative in scoping each other out during the opening phases, which saw the game suffer in terms of goalmouth opportunities to begin with.

A furore erupted around Casemiro on the 20-minute mark when his hooked tackle attempt caught Messi but none of the ball, earning him a yellow card as some Barca players sought further punishment.

Gareth Bale, taking on a more central role in the absence of Ronaldo, tested Blaugrana No. 1 Marc-Andre ter Stegen with a stinging effort following Isco's run into the box down the left, but still the two teams remained level.

Having looked so steely for much of the first half despite the strength of the attack they faced, Barca broke early on after the restart and were disappointed as Pique's attempted block saw him divert the ball into his own net.

Marcelo drove the ball in from the left, and Barca's chief centre-back, in his best attempt to divert the ball away from his net, slid and did precisely the opposite in the process, via Sky Sports La Liga:

Dani Carvajal would have doubled that lead minutes later were it not for a heroic, sliding Jordi Alba block across the face of goal, keeping manager Ernesto Valverde's men in the clash.

Barcelona almost conjured the perfect response when Ivan Rakitic found Aleix Vidal in space to shoot from the right, and Gerard Deulofeu's driven cross from the resulting deflection just missed the outstretched boot of Messi.

Madrid stopper Keylor Navas was called into action just before the hour mark when Luis Suarez rocketed a header his way from a corner, the Costa Rica international smartly tipping the effort over his own bar.

One need not have been in the Camp Nou to tell who entered the fray soon after, and the jeers ringing around signalled the introduction of Ronaldo, fit and ready to have his say on the end result.

The Portuguese has only just started his 2017-18 season but is already back adding new accolades to his belt, this time reiterating his place as the club's greatest ever goalscorer:

Barca continued to enjoy chances on goal and next came close through Sergio Busquets, who had the goal at his mercy following Navas' slip between the posts, but he could only sky his effort high over the crossbar.

Messi made up for that error from the penalty spot minutes later, when Navas was adjudged to have fouled Suarez inside the box. The Uruguayan made a meal of any contact, although ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan chose to give Suarez the benefit of the doubt in his desperation to draw level:

The hosts stood level for all of three minutes thanks to the brilliance of a certain super substitute, who capitalised upon a missed Rakitic attempt down the other end before springing free of Barca's defence.

Pique's feet struggled to keep up with Ronaldo's on the edge of his own area, and Madrid's talisman lasered his shot into the top right from the left edge of the box, eclipsing Barca's own poster boy in El Clasico goals at this ground, per Sky Sports Statto:

In hindsight, Ronaldo may admit he was at fault for removing his jersey simply for the sake of a celebration, taking his yellow on the chin as long as it meant savouring Los Blancos taking a one-goal lead.

He paid the price, though, after a jostle with Barca defender Samuel Umtiti left him on the ground in the opposition box, and his fall was seen as an attempt to dupe the officials, resulting in his first red card of the new term:

Having already seen a controversial Barcelona penalty given earlier, Madrid will have seen this as their second injustice of the match, so said the Mirror's Alex Richards:

Asensio was on hand to raise Madrid's spirits again, however, and powered a firmly struck shot into Ter Stegen's top-left corner with the kind of confidence and technique to make Ronaldo himself green with envy.

That hit will likely come to play a crucial role in Wednesday's second-leg decider, a fixture in which Ronaldo will play no part following an avoidable dismissal in Catalonia.