Ronaldo, more of a leader than ever before
Cristiano Ronaldo may have scored a brace in Real Madrid's thrashing of Alaves on Saturday, but his role in the side's resurrection goes much deeper than simply a source of goals.
A lot was made of the Portuguese's goal drought earlier in the season, about his profligacy in front of goal, his drop in form and his contract stuatus but the 33-year-old can never be written off.
Following Real Madrid's disappointing start to the season, all eyes turned to Ronaldo as the cornerstone of the side for inspiration and since the turn of the year he has certainly delivered on that front.
In the first 19 league games of the season, Ronaldo scored four goals, but he has already found the net on ten occasions in the little over seven weeks of 2018.
Ronaldo's nose for goals has returned but more than that, he is leading Real's resurrection.
Against Alaves on Saturday, Ronaldo took to the field wearing the captain's armband in the absence of Sergio Ramos, but far from being named skipper purely because of his goals, Ronaldo also showed a maturity and team spirit that he has often ben criticised for not having as he called on the crowd to encourage the out-of-form Karim Benzema and allowed the Frenchman to take a late penalty despite being on a hat-trick himself..
Aside form that though, the former Manchester United man also got on the scoresheet twice to move to 28 goals for the season in all competitions (14 in LaLiga, 11 in the Champions League, two in the Copa del Rey and one in the Spanish Super Cup), not that he any intention of resting on his laurels.
It's like he never went away and his return to top form is just the boost Real needed as the season moved into the final straight.