Real Madrid know how to make a Champions League night feel decided before it has properly begun. Under the lights at the Santiago Bernabéu, they struck twice in the opening 23 minutes, and for all Internazionale's late stirrings the outcome was never seriously in doubt. A 2-1 win, three points banked, and a statement of intent to open the campaign.

Kylian Mbappé and Federico Valverde did the damage early, each finishing from the heart of the box, each punishing an Inter side that arrived organised but was undone by the speed and precision of the home team's opening exchanges. Carlos Augusto's 77th-minute reply gave the scoreline a respectability the balance of the contest did not quite support.

It was the kind of performance that reminds a competition what Madrid can do when they smell an early advantage. The Bernabéu, restless and expectant, was rewarded almost immediately, and the noise that greeted Mbappé's opener carried the team through the rest of the evening.

A ruthless opening

The first blow landed in the 14th minute. Brahim Díaz threaded the pass, Mbappé took it in his stride and drove a right-footed shot from the centre of the box straight down the middle of the goal. Clean, decisive, and delivered with the calm of a man who has made this stadium his stage. The Bernabéu roared its approval and Inter had barely settled.

Nine minutes later the tie was all but taken out of Italian hands. Valverde arrived in the box and lashed a left-footed finish into the centre of the net, a second goal that spoke of a team playing with rhythm and conviction. Two shots from central positions, two goals, and the scoreboard already reading 2-0 before the half-hour.

There is a particular cruelty to conceding twice so quickly on the road in Europe. Inter had come to compete, to frustrate, to keep the tie alive deep into the night. Instead they found themselves chasing a game that had slipped away almost before it started, forced to reorganise and rethink against opponents who had smelled blood.

Inter find a foothold

To their credit, Internazionale did not fold. The second half became a more even contest, and their persistence eventually found reward on 77 minutes. Lautaro Martínez, their captain and talisman, laid it off for Carlos Augusto, who swept a right-footed finish from the centre of the box into the middle of the goal.

For a spell it lent the closing stages a genuine edge. A single goal separated the sides, and the visitors sensed that one more moment might rescue a point from a night that had promised nothing. The Bernabéu, so comfortable an hour earlier, grew a fraction anxious as Inter pressed for parity.

But Madrid had built their lead precisely so they could absorb such pressure, and absorb it they did. The two-goal cushion earned in the opening quarter of an hour proved the difference, and Inter's late flourish arrived too late and yielded too little. The final whistle confirmed a defeat that leaves them with plenty to ponder.

What the table says

The three points lift Real Madrid to fifth, a return of one win from one and a healthy start to a campaign in which they will expect to go deep. Two goals scored, one conceded, and the sense of a side that can turn early dominance into results. It is exactly the platform this competition demands from its heavyweights.

For Internazionale, the picture is starker. Defeat leaves them 34th and pointless, a single win yet to arrive and a goal difference already in the red. One goal for, two against, and a place near the foot of the standings that flatters nobody. There is time to correct course, but the margin for further slips is already narrowing.

The manner of the loss will sting as much as the result. To concede twice inside 23 minutes at a venue like this is to hand the initiative to a side that thrives on it. Inter showed enough after the interval to suggest better nights lie ahead, yet the opening quarter of an hour undid all their good work.

The road ahead

Real Madrid will take from this the reassurance that their front line still carries the threat to settle European nights early. Mbappé's finish and Valverde's strike were the work of players in form and full of confidence, and if they can maintain that ruthlessness the campaign promises much. The challenge now is consistency, of turning promising starts into the deep runs their history demands.

Internazionale must regroup quickly. Sitting bottom of the pile with no points, they cannot afford to let this defeat linger into their next outing. The character shown in the second half, and the partnership between Lautaro Martínez and Carlos Augusto that produced their goal, offer something to build upon.

For now, though, the night belonged to the home side. Two goals in a blistering opening, a lead defended with authority, and a Bernabéu sent home satisfied. Madrid have laid down their marker; Inter must respond, and quickly, before the table hardens against them.