Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 70th UEFA Champions League goal in Real Madrid’s humbling of Liverpool while Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund were in rampant form elsewhere in the competition this evening.

Gareth Bale was absent from the Real squad no thanks to a thigh injury – which has also ruled him out of this weekend’s El-Clasico – while Daniel Stirridge was Liverpool’s notable absentee.

The Reds began the match brighter but gradually lost a hold of the game to Real, which duly took the lead midway through the first half with a brilliant piece of play.

Ronaldo latched on to a well-weighted return chipped pass by James Rodriguez over the Liverpool defence and sent a first-time effort past Simon Mignolet to put Real ahead.

The goal, Ronaldo’s 20th in 13 matches this season, put the Ballon d’Or holder one goal shy of equalling Real Madrid legend Raul’s record of 71 goals scored in the Champions League.

French striker Karim Benzema then doubled Real’s lead on the half-hour mark with a looping header before scrambling home a second just before half-time when Pepe steered a cornerkick to his path in the crowded Liverpool area.

Philippe Coutinho saw a rasping shot crash off the Real post on the stroke of half-time while Raheem Sterling had a curling effort kept out in the second half as Real saw off the Reds to seal a 3-0 win.

The result maintains Real’s perfect record in the group after three matches, while the 1-0 win for Ludogorets over Basel in the othee group match means three teams now have three points each in the group.

Elsewhere, Spanish champions Atletico Madrid went top of Group A with six points, ahead of Olymoiacos on goal difference and three points ahead of Juventus, following a 5-0 crushing of Malmo FF at the Calderon.

Meanwnile Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a brace as Dortmund maintained its perfect record after three matches in Group D with a 4-0 win at Galatasaray.

The Gabon international scored in the sixth and 18th minute to give the Germans an early two-goal lead in Istanbul, while a spectacular Marco Reus strikd from long range made it 3-0 just before half-time.

Dortmund also had a goal-bound effort cleared off the line but Adrian Ramos still piled the misery on Galatasaray with a fourth seven minutes from time to seal a comfortable win for Jürgen Klopp’s men.