Real Madrid are truly back to winning ways. It was not Los Blancos' greatest performance, but they still did enough to beat Espanyol 2-0.
They no longer need to play well to win, with Zinedine Zidane having built a solid block that is allowing the attacking-minded players to showcase their ability.
Although this is good news, there is a need to raise their level when it comes to the upcoming away games at Mestalla and the Camp Nou.
Vinicius Junior returned to the line-up and played well, while Fede Valverde continued his fine vein of form in the middle of the park.
However, it was not all positive. Ferland Mendy stupidly picked up a second yellow card, meaning that Real Madrid will be without tboth the Frenchman and Marcelo against Valencia, while there is a sense that Los Merengues are already missing Eden Hazard.
Vinicius linked up well with Ferland Mendy and Karim Benzema, and when he had the chance to utilise his pace, he was unstoppable.
There were three impressive chances that Vinicius created in the first half, but all three were stopped by Espanyol goalkeeper Diego Lopez.
In what was a largely positive first half for Vinicius, he must have been feeling lucky at half-time as he evaded a second yellow card for a sliding challenge on David Lopez, having previously been carded for going in on Diego Lopez. The replays showed that he slipped for the David Lopez foul, but he must have breathed a sigh of relief when Jaime Latre allowed him to continue.
Nevertheless, it would have been a disappointment after the performance he put in during the opening 45 minutes.
Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal and Raphael Varane. In this order. They are three of the last four goalscorers for Real Madrid, with the captain and right-back netting against Alaves last weekend before Varane opened the scoring at home to Espanyol on Saturday.
Without their goals, there would be problems at Real Madrid as Benzema remains the main threat in attack. Talking of the Frenchman, he found the back of the net in the 80th minute to seal the 2-0 victory.
Ramos, Carvajal and Varane, in addition to their goalscoring exploits, have been playing very well at the back, both individually and collectively. In fact, Real Madrid have only conceded 11 goals in the league so far this season.
What was Ferland Mendy doing!? The French left-back came into the starting line-up due to the injury to Marcelo, but he was sent off in the 83rd minute after receiving his second yellow card.
Both cards came as a result of tough challenges. The first is kind of acceptable, but the second, knowing that he was on a yellow, is inexcusable.
At 2-0 and with Marcelo injured, he should have put the brakes on before going into the challenge with Victor Gomez. It was a bad decision and potentially a lost opportunity.
However, Mendy will likely play at the Camp Nou due to Marcelo's injury, so he will have to not take this to heart too much.
On the verge of half-time, Espanyol striker Jonathan Calleri asked for a handball after he believed Dani Carvajal had handballed it in the area.
The two players had a bit of an argument, which led to Calleri and Carvajal's heads coming together, but what followed was embarrassing.
The Argentine threw himself to the ground, claiming that he had been headbutted. What Mr. Calleri forgets is that there are thousands of TV cameras, as well as the VAR, so you can no longer get away with that.
Real Madrid? Yes, Real Madrid. It was strange seeing Los Blancos not play in white at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday, with a decision having been made to wear their green strip in order to bring awareness to the Climate Change Summit, which is taking place in Madrid.
That was not the only rare part about Real Madrid's uniform, though. As the players warmed up, they had a top with gold confetti on as part of a collaboration with EA Sports.
It was a good piece of marketing, admittedly, and a lot of children will no doubt be asking for these shirts for Christmas.
Real Madrid's genius is unavailable, and it is obvious. Eden Hazard's injury has caused Los Merengues to lose some magic, brilliance and speed in attack.
Even Karim Benzema to have a faded a bit more without Hazard on the pitch, with the two linking up to devastating effect prior to the Belgian's ankle knock.
Zinedine Zidane has made Real Madrid solid and hard to beat, but they could certainly do with having Hazard for the trips to Mestalla and the Camp Nou.