Gareth Bale believes Real Madrid issued a statement of intent with their 5-1 Champions League win over Basel.
The European champions - who won the competition for a 10th time last season - underlined their threat in the competition with a convincing Group B triumph on Tuesday.
And Bale, who scored Real's second goal with a measured two-touch finish in the first half, was content with the performance, which helped to ease some of the frustration of Saturday's 2-1 La Liga loss to rivals Atletico Madrid.
"We felt we needed to get back on track and that's a good way to do it."
A poor start to the league campaign, which has yielded just three points from three games, has left coach Carlo Ancelotti under some pressure, but Bale insists that is not a factor in his own approach to matches.
"I just concentrate on the football, I don't listen to anything like that," he said.
"I think we go out on the pitch, try to enjoy ourselves, play our best football and hopefully we win - thankfully we did that."
Real return to domestic action with a trip to Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday as they eye just their second win of the league season.
FOX Soccer and Goal.com have teamed up to bring you the best in world soccer coverage. Visit Goal.com, and follow them on Twitter and Facebook.
More from Goal.com:
Live transfer blog: Latest news from summer window
The summer's most expensive transfers
Transfer talk: 24/7 source for the latest rumors
