Real Madrid: The Start Of A New Era?

If the season started slowly for Real Madrid, the juggernaut is now fully in motion. It took a while for Jose Mourinho to get his band of galacticos in tune, but their most recent victory against their greatest of European rivals, AC Milan, may herald the start of a new era. If I were a Madrid fan, I wouldn’t get carried away just yet, not least because AC Milans packed their starting eleven with geriatrics, producing a display as limp as any from an AC Milan side in living memory. Not only that, but both of Madrid’s goals were gifts. Milan’s wall parted like the Red Sea for Cristiano’s opener and Mesut Ozil’s strike took a huge deflection for the second only one minute later. But the manner in which they held Milan at arms length, coupled with a couple of new club records means the Bernabeu is experiencing a wave of optimism not seen since the days of Zidane and the original Ronaldo.

It was only a matter of weeks ago that Mourinho’s side were taking a battering in the press, and looking back it was unjust criticism. Pepe and Ricardo Carvalho had already forged a solid partnership at the back. Angel Di Maria and Mesut Ozil had both got on the scoresheet, adapting to life in Spain incredibly quickly for two players so young. And they hadn’t even lost a match. Their only problem was at the head of attack, with Cristiano and Gonzalo Higuain missing chances for fun. But Mourinho wouldn’t have panicked; at least the chances were being created he would have thought. Cristiano and Higuain will come good eventually. Form is temporary, class is permanent.

And so they did, with the away tie at Malaga confirming their return to form. Cristiano blazed back to something like his best, scoring two and setting up the other two for his Argentine partner in crime. All of a sudden those who had panned Real Madrid only weeks before were in awe. And when the press are in awe of Real Madrid they start to dig out the record books. It so happens that no Real Madrid manager had remained unbeaten for their first ten matches. Jose Mourinho becomes the first.

Cristiano Ronaldo currently heads club legends Raul and Alfredo Di Stefano on the goalscoring ratio card. 40 goals in 45 matches gives him a stunning ratio of 0.88 goals per match in the white of Madrid. They currently top La Liga with 17 points from a possible 21. Cristiano tops the Pichichi race with 6 goals and Iker Casillas is currently leading the Zamora charts having only conceded a measly 3 goals. Hell, even Marcelo is playing like a world beater. Championship winning material if they keep this up. Trouble for the rest is that with Mourinho in charge, thats more than likely. He simply doesn’t allow a team to rest on their laurels.

All this coupled with the visible lethargy over at the Camp Nou has to make Real Madrid early title favourites. Bigger challenges lie ahead, not just in Spain but also in Europe. The ultimate test of how far they have come will arrive in November when they line up for the seasons first ‘Clasico’. Until then, Jose Mourinho and his band of record breakers can be more than happy with their start to 2010/2011, a season many Madridistas will want to look back on as the start of a new era.