Amidst questions of his commitment to the team versus personal motives, Cristiano Ronaldo proved one fact beyond any doubt: the man is a talented footballer. The improvement in Real Madrid’s form with the Portuguese international back on the pitch after a two-month injury is obvious to even a novice football fan.

Ronaldo’s presence will be missed as Real travel to fourth place Valencia at the weekend; however, as for the Champions League, Madrid took care of business against Marseille, advancing to the knockout stage as group winners.

An embarrassing exit to Liverpool in the round of 16 last year was one of the contributing factors to the plethora of changes made at the Bernabeu this past summer. Winning their group is the first step in advancing deeper in the tournament as they will see a more favorable opponent as a top seed. Regardless, Madrid’s current form shouldn’t have them fearing any opponent.

The entirety of Tuesday night’s Champions League draw was not perfect; the Spanish side continued to make imprudent defensive mistakes, which lead to a goal and a penalty. It is no secret that their back line is Real Madrid’s Achilles’ heal, but the capital side has made progress over the past few matches, showing signs of better defensive form.

Against top-level competition it only takes one mistake (think of El Clasico a few weeks ago) to lose a game, and while Madrid are improving defensively,Los Blancos are not where they need to be in this regard.

Cristiano was truly brilliant to watch against Marseille, a treat for any fan of the game. The Portuguese star danced around defenders on the sideline while beautifully finding the back of the net from a set piece. With ten minutes remaining, a fantastic ball from Karim Benzema would set up Ronaldo to put away his second, sealing his double and the game.

A solid away performance while topping their Champions League group leaves Madrid in good position in Europe as the Pellegrini’s men travel to Valencia for an important league match Saturday.