As Cristiano Ronaldo huffed and puffed and was made to wait for his maiden goal at new club Juventus on Sunday, his former employers, Real Madrid, demonstrated life goes on with a scintillating team display in an away match against Girona in La Liga.
The European champions, who have not moved to replace their former player in the transfer market, emerged 4-1 victors from their visit to Catalonia and it could have been more.
New coach Julen Lopetegui has been tasked with rebuilding the side following Ronaldo’s departure and the early signs are good, with Real already looking like more of a unit than a collection of individuals.
“I think the key this year is that we play as a team,” midfielder Casemiro said. “Today we’ve shown that we’re a great team.”
Naturally in Ronaldo’s absence, all eyes have been on Gareth Bale and the Welshman has delivered.
His coolly taken strike on the counter to make it 3-1 was the sixth consecutive La Liga game that he had scored in.
His partnership with Karim Benzema is also flourishing and he set up the France forward’s second of the night 10 minutes from the end.
“I’m just here to help the side,” Bale said. “We are a team. We’re a unit and we need to win all the games we can.”
Likewise, youngster Marco Asensio, who has taken Ronaldo’s spot in the team on the left of the front three, is starting to reap the rewards of regular soccer and the confidence of his coach, winning two penalties at Montilivi.
While the lingering shadow of Ronaldo and a thirst for a galactico superstar remains at Real, their new team ethic looks, for now, to have trumped any signing they could have made.
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