As Cristiano Ronaldo lay on the Mestalla turf in tears on Wednesday night on his return to Spain, some 225 miles away his former teammates were once again thriving.
For while Ronaldo was being sent off on his European debut for Juventus , the three-in-a-row Champions League winners he left behind were making light work of Roma at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Gareth Bale is shining, Karim Benzema looks rejuvenated and Julen Lopetegui has them playing with an increased amount of control and swagger.
In five games since the UEFA Super Cup they’ve bagged 14 goals, winning four and drawing a difficult away day at Athetic Bilbao. Without Ronaldo’s preening and posturing in attack there are even smiles on faces.
And according to Luis Garcia, the former Spain international, there is now greater happiness being spread among Madrid’s galaxy of stars, rather than being kept for one man.
"It’s a new Real Madrid , totally different even though they haven’t signed many players," says Garcia.
"I am glad to see that even though Cristiano Ronaldo left and you’re not going to see him in the next Clasico, that is something that of course we are all going to miss, but Benzema has started at a really good pace after last year where people were not very happy because he was not scoring goals.
"Or Bale that since he arrived at Real Madrid he’s been in the shadow or the shade of Cristiano Ronaldo. So new players are going to show up this year; Isco, [Marco] Asensio.
"You can see the way that Benzema is playing, or Bale is playing with that freedom that they move on the pitch. At the end when you’ve got Cristiano Ronaldo on the field you want as many balls as possible to go to his feet, and now that he’s not there all those balls have to be spread in the rest of them."
The exit of the Champions League’s all-time record scorer in the summer meant that Madrid only entered Europe’s premier club competition as fifth favourite with bookmakers’.
But the quality of their win over Roma, when they scored three but could have had more in a game they completely dominated, showed that there is now more importance placed on the team and its needs, believes Garcia.
"I’m sure that, [as] Benzema is already showing, Bale is already showing scoring almost every goal that they played during the pre-season and the start of the season.
"We’re going to see a totally different Real Madrid with a little bit more connection and team spirit between them and a less main man or key man for every game.”
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