Then came Ajax in the Champions League and we were treated to a delightful display of attacking football backed up by the traditional defensive stability that you expect to see in a Jose Mourinho-led team.
There was still a sense, however, – backed up by hard statistical data – that Real’s chance/goal conversion rate was still undercutting the potential of the team and lingering doubts continued through to the end of September.
Three matches into October, and suddenly Real Madrid look unstoppable. They have ploughed through Deportivo La Coruna and Malaga in the league with ten goals in two games before consuming Milan on Tuesday night in Europe.
Even if Ajax could be quickly dismissed as a second rate European team, Milan certainly could not. The Rossoneri arrived in Madrid on the back of a seven game unbeaten run and were starting to betray signs that their heavy summer investment was paying off. That counted for little at the Santiago Bernabeu, where they were categorically demolished and quite fortunate not to suffer the indignity of a much larger goal margin.
It is often said that new managers need at least a few months to translate fresh policies and tactics into on-pitch success, but Jose Mourinho has managed to gel his team in record-breaking time. He is the first ever Real Madrid coach to remain unbeaten after his first ten competitive games and not since the 2002-03 season has the most successful European club of all time won their first three Champions League group matches.
Pedro Leon witnessed at first hand the consequences of displeasing the manager and that incident may have come at the perfect time as it served to warn the other players not to obstruct his ruthless pursuit of absolute authority. But Mourinho does not simply rule with an iron fist: his players are happy; happy to be led, happy to be absolutely clear on the instructions for their individual roles.
Obviously the tactical system is working. We saw the 4-2-3-1 emerge as the dominant blueprint for the most successful teams at the World Cup and that is the one that Mourinho has preferred for years now. It provides defensive stability with two holding midfielders while freeing the wide men to cause havoc in advanced areas. If you factor in the quality and hunger of young stars like Mesut Ozil, Angel di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo in attacking midfield, then that can be devastating.
The speed and ease with which Ozil and di Maria have slotted in this season has been astounding, but all of the new signings have immediately found their feet. Here in Spain, the press is particularly in awe of Ricardo Carvalho, who has immediately displaced Raul Albiol at the heart of defence.
It also helps that Ronaldo is back to his best and ready to compete with Lionel Messi again for the mantel of best player in the world. With 40 goals in 45 games for Real, the Portuguese winger already boasts a better goal return than club legends Raul, Alfredo di Stefano and Hugo Sanchez.
Real Madrid are approaching the first decisive month in their campaign. If they get things right in November, they could be well on their way to regaining the title from bitter rivals Barcelona.
Positive results against Milan and Ajax this month will guarantee them top spot in their Champions League group and this is important as they will want to be seeded, making it theoretically easier for them to pass beyond the last-16 in Europe for the first time in six years.
They also make their debut in the Copa del Rey next week and a good run there would do them no harm whatsoever. Manuel Pellegrini showed last season that it can be very difficult to recover from an embarrassing cup defeat. Indeed, many pundits cite Real’s abysmal thrashing at the hands of then third division Alcorcon as the beginning of the end for the Chilean coach.
Back to the business of La Liga, Jose Mourinho’s men warm-up with Racing Santander (home), Hercules (away), Atletico Madrid (home), Sporting de Gijon (away) and Athletic Bilbao (home) before back to back crunch matches against Barcelona (away) and Valencia (home).
If they have already qualified top of the group in the Champions League with one match to play, that could hand them an advantage come the end of November. Win all the aforementioned games, and the title could be practically in the bag.
Lionel Messi hinted earlier this week that many of the Barcelona players are suffering from fatigue after grueling summers. While it is still too soon to predict, these doubts about Barca’s physical condition and early signs of form suggest that Real Madrid could travel to the Camp Nou at the end of November as favourites in the Gran Clasico for the first time in years.
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