Atletico Madrid have begun their Europa League defence with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel tonight.

Cristian Rodriguez, Diego Costa and Raul Garcia were all on the scoresheet for the Spanish side, who won last season's competition with a 3-0 victory over La Liga rivals Atheltic Bilbao in the final.

Both Costa and Garcia had good early chances to break the deadlock, with the latter having a shot saved by Apoula Edel.

Brazilian striker Costa sent a header off target moments later, before dragging a left-footed shot wide just prior to assisting Rodriguez's 37th-minute opener.

The Uruguayan international collected a pass from his South American teammate and bent a curling shot past Edel from outside the box.

It took just three minutes for Costa to double Madrid's lead by applying the finish to Adrian's clever through ball.

Atletico continued to dominate the action in the second period and established a three-goal winning margin when Garcia turned Emre's corner into the net.