Zinedine Zidane hailed Real Madrid's two-goal hero Gareth Bale after their 3-0 win away to Real Sociedad as the Frenchman admitted this could be "an important year'' for the Welshman.
Bale relishes his visits to San Sebastian and has now scored five goals in four appearances at the Anoeta, scoring Madrid's first in the second minute with a powerful header from a Dani Carvajal cross and adding a second deep in injury time.
Marco Asensio scored Madrid's second with a cool lob in the 40th minute as the depleted visitors nevertheless won comfortably enough.
With Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema missing, Bale was the sole member of the feared "BBC" strike force to feature and Zidane felt he took responsibility despite a truncated preseason after Wales' run to the semifinals of Euro 2016.
"I'm happy for him, because he is physically behind the others and that has not been noticed,'' Zidane said in quotes reported by AS. "He started in the best way, scoring early. This is a difficult place to come if you do not take your chances. Gareth has already said this one is an important year for him, and it is showing.''
Zidane could find very little to fault in Madrid's performance, adding: "Everyone made a great effort. We attacked and defended together. You can achieve things fighting for every ball.
"We knew it would be a difficult place to come but we put in a good performance from the beginning, although we suffered a bit. It was important to start the season well.''
Asensio impressed Zidane, having been selected ahead of James Rodriguez and Isco in midfield.
"I had to decide who to leave out and he [Asensio] did well. It makes my head hurt deciding on the lineup. Asensio had a great game, but so did Mateo Kovacic and the others. The important thing is the team, and we made many chances.''
Zidane offered little comment on Rodriguez, who has been linked with a move to Chelsea before the end of the transfer window.
"He is well and happy and we have added three points,'' he said.
Real Sociedad were up against it from the moment Bale headed in the early goal, and their coach Eusebio Sacristan said: "We tried, but it was very difficult with such an early goal. We put our heart into it and showed on our face to the end.
"We tried to show a competitive spirit. We continued to apply pressure. We kept trying to keep a high pace with the idea we could wear them down but they were running until the final whistle, they're very strong and committed to their defensive work.''