Ramos starts Real Madrid reign with victory

(CNN) -- Juande Ramos made a winning debut as coach of Real Madrid, as Raul Gonzalez scored twice to give the Spanish champions a comfortable 3-0 Champions League Group H win over Zenit St Petersburg.

Raul's double strike also takes him onto 66 goals in European competition, overtaking AC Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi as the all-time leading scorer in Europe.

Despite the result, Real only go through as group runners-up behind Juventus, whose disappointing 0-0 home draw with BATE Borisov proved enough to see the Serie A side qualify as group winners.

Ramos, who replaced Bernd Schuster as coach on Tuesday just six weeks after being fired as Tottenham manager, got off to a perfect start when Raul put the home side ahead in the 25th minute when he pounced from close-range after Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev failed to hold a cross from Rafael van der Vaart.

Real nearly added a second four minutes after the break when Fabio Cannavaro's header was cleared off the line.

However, they did double their lead just a minute later when Raul fed Arjen Robben down the right and the Dutchman floated a right-foote shot inside the far corner of the net.

Robben returned the favor by setting up Raul for the third in the 57th minute, although the Spanish international's chipped finish over Maleev was pure genius.

Ramos took Raul off, to a standing ovation, soon afterwards and Zenit twice hit the crossbar as they searched for a consolation goal.

After a traumatic last few weeks, Real can now go into 'El Classico' against Barcelona on Saturday with renewed hope, although their opponents will still be firm favorites as they top the Primera Liga and are now unbeaten in 13 league matches.

"The most positive thing is the clear and dominating victory," said a delighted Ramos. "The best thing is that we have gained some confidence in ourselves which will help against Barcelona."

Meanwhile, Juventus topped the group with 12 points, despite being held to a goalless draw by Belarussian champions BATE Borisov.

Real Madrid also ended their campaign with 12 points, but the Italian side end up on top courtesy of a better head-to-head record.

Zenit St. Petersburg finish the group with five points and go into the UEFA Cup, a tournament they won last season, while BATE go out of Europe with three points.