Five takeaways from Real Madrid's 4-2 win against Athletic Bilbao

1. In his biggest test yet, Zidane passed in flying colors. Athletic are such a frisky team and are a terror to play, especially with Audriz in form this season. Real looked ready from the start, and save for one defensive error, were rock solid against the Basque team

2. Reports of Cristiano Ronaldo's demise have, once again, been greatly exaggerated. He's got 15 goals in 15 games against Athletic, and bookended the scoring in the Bernabéu today.

3. Hey this Kovacic guy might be pretty good, eh? Consecutive weeks with strong showings, and alongside Kroos and Modrić he looked right at home. Is he starting to work his way into the first 11...?

4. Defensive sloppiness continues to be an issue. Each of Athletic's goals came from the defense sleepwalking, and one can't help but feel this clumsiness will come back to haunt them.

5. There are plenty of talking points going into the next match, most of which are good ones. Cristiano is looking like Cristiano. Kovacic-Kroos-Modrić is about as balanced and inventive of a midfield as we've seen. Zidane seems most interested in putting his players in positions to succeed, rather than implementing a system. James still seems unable to score anything other than screamers. Luka Modrić is, in short, breathtaking to watch.

What are your thoughts?