3 things we learned from Real Madrid’s convincing 3-0 win over Liverpool

Real Madrid taught Liverpool a footballing lesson with a magnificent 3-0 win away at Anfield in the Champions League on Wednesday. Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema ensured the reigning champions continued their perfect start to this year's tournament, while Liverpool's task to progress into the knockouts was made a little more difficult.

Despite their eventual margin of defeat, Liverpool actually matched Real Madrid pretty well through the first quarter of the match. Save for tame efforts from both Ronaldo and Steven Gerrard, there was little in the way of goalmouth action, with the hosts looking pretty content to sit back and soak up pressure.

It took just seven minutes for Madrid to score a second goal, and it was almost as good as the first. Toni Kroos whipped an inch-perfect cross deep toward the far post from the edge of the penalty area, and Benzema was on hand to loop a header back over goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and inside the far post.

The floodgates had well and truly opened, and Madrid netted a third with four minutes of the half remaining. The hosts dealt terribly with a corner, and Benzema reacted quickest to a loose ball in the penalty area to stab home his second. That was how it stayed to the break, with the woodwork preventing a Philippe Coutinho rocket from finding the back of the net and dragging Liverpool back into the game in stoppage time.

With Luis Suárez having left for Barcelona, Daniel Sturridge on the physio's table and Mario Balotelli failing to fire, much of the blame for Liverpool's poor start to the season has been placed on their attack. However, this match showed that their defense is still a major problem. Their lack of a true holding midfielder meant Real Madrid could waltz through almost at will in the first half, while centre-back Dejan Lovren continues to struggle since arriving from Southampton. If they want their season to improve, they need to improve at both ends of the field.

By his usual standards, this wasn't an especially good Cristiano Ronaldo performance. Yet he still managed to score a wondergoal. He has now scored 70 times in the Champions League, moving him to within a single goal of the competition's all-time top scorer Raúl. He will imminently smash the record, and when he retires it'd be surprising if he didn't have quite a big buffer. The only man who can challenge him is a certain Lionel Messi.

3. Real Madrid are terrifying even without Gareth Bale

Real Madrid's approach to this game was pretty proactive, despite the pace and power of Cristiano Ronaldo being perfectly suited to play on the counter. One of several reasons for them to play in the way they did was the absence of winger Gareth Bale through injury, which forced Carlo Ancelotti into fielding both James Rodríguez and Isco -- two less physical, less explosive players, who prefer to have the ball at their feet rather than space to run into. However, with both James and Isco dazzling with their invention, it was an approach that proved no less effective. Even without Bale, Real were as effective as ever.