Ruud van Nistelrooy opened his Primera Liga goalscoring account for Real Madrid in spectacular fashion with a hat-trick against Levante.
The Dutch striker also missed a penalty against the newly-promoted side as he paid off an instalment of the £10.2m fee paid to
Manchester United.
His treble led Real to their first league win of the season.
Van Nistelrooy said: "It's been a good day, a very important win. I missed a penalty, which is really bad."
He struck first with a shot from the edge of the area in the 16th minute.
Antonio Cassano added a second for Real before Levante reduced the arrears through Felix Ettien.
Van Nistelrooy restored Real's two-goal cushion after the interval but his striking instincts let him down when he missed from the penalty spot.
He completed his hat-trick in injury-time to give Real four points from their opening two games.
