Gareth Bale And Cristiano Ronaldo Swiss-Cheesed Schalke's Defense

Hey, stupid Real Madrid fans: can we stop pretending like Gareth Bale isn't still the great player Madrid thought they were buying? Today's complete demolishment of Schalke in the Champions League has to finally shut you guys up, right?

Every time he takes the pitch all he does is prove how awesome he is, doubters in the Spanish media be damned. The romp through the Schalke back line you see above may not be as immediately breath-taking as his cannon-shot this weekend, but it does show a new wrinkle for a guy who typically relies on his pace to beat defenders. There, Bale jinked past two guys on his way into the box before calmly slotting home right before a third man in blue could get to him. Might need to update that list.

For his next feat, he assisted on Cristiano Ronaldo's first goal, who must've felt the need to show off his own trickiness by completely baffling a Schalke player before smashing in the goal. Still not enough? How about a brace to go with that assist?

That's more like it. But Ronaldo, never one to get shown up, added yet another goal to solidify the blowout 1-6, a Huntelaar cracking volley giving at least the Schalke fans some consolation:

So that's four goals and three assists between the two talismanic wingers, to go along with striker Benzema's own double this afternoon. Madrid is in sole possession of the top spot in La Liga, and look to really be rounding into form in Europe as well. So much for a quiet post-Mourinho campaign.