La Liga Hangover: Are Real Madrid an Accelerating Diesel or Ticking Time Bomb?

Zinedine Zidane turned to his bench with a smile and a look of deep satisfaction he couldn't disguise. Before him, his Real Madrid had won back the ball deep in their own half; four touches and nine seconds later, it was sitting in the opponents' net.

So slick and so lethal, a backheel had been followed by a pass on the turn, a splitting ball up field and a chip. It was Alvaro Morata who put it away, and Zidane's face said it all: "That is my team."

As Madrid departed Mendizorrotza on Saturday evening, a 4-1 victory over Alaves to their name, that was the enduring image of the afternoon. It was quintessentially Real Madrid, swift, graceful and brutal all at the same time.

It was followed, too, by a goal that was strikingly similar, starting with a deep, sharp exchange before bursting through the lines like a 200-ton locomotive, gathering pace and force with every stride.

It was the story of Madrid's late flourish, but it wasn't the whole story. This season, it never is.

In the autumnal sun of the Basque country, Madrid's afternoon on Saturday followed a familiar curve. A sluggish start and sloppiness resulted in an early setback. A period of re-establishment followed but was characterised by a fragmented feel. Then came a couple of scares before Zidane's men rolled up their sleeves for a late pummelling of their hosts.

This is what they do, but again they'd left behind a paradoxical picture: Which of the versions of Madrid witnessed throughout the 90 minutes actually is Madrid? Is the fragility or the power more real? Is it both? Are Madrid better than they look or worse than their results indicate? Are they an accelerating diesel or a ticking time bomb?

It was Carlo Ancelotti who once used the engine-based analogy to describe Madrid. After an early defeat to Real Sociedad two seasons ago, the former manager sought to dispel panic by pointing out what he saw as the essence of his side. "The team is working hard and one thing for sure is that the team is a diesel," he told Il Giornale (h/t Reuters). 

Ancelotti's point was that Madrid aren't blistering off the line but, once going, find speed in a hurry thanks to low-down grunt. The Italian had seen that in his club in their run to La Decima earlier that year and was proved correct to an extent again when his side followed consecutive defeats at the beginning of 2014-15 with a barnstorming, 22-game winning streak in which that diesel was housed in a tank. 

Perhaps Ancelotti might see the same quality now. Under Zidane, the men from the capital have started the season well below full pace but, in certain ways, have a look of something ominous steadily building. 

Saturday's victory over Alaves was their third straight in the league and seventh in 10 games. They sit undefeated at the top of the table, two points clear of Barcelona and three clear of neighbours Atletico Madrid. 

The raw facts look good. Even without early explosions from the club's biggest names—and you can bet they will come—Madrid have edged in front of their rivals on the back of depth and a sharing of the load. Fourteen different players have already scored in the league alone, and several outside the first-choice XI are making compelling cases for inclusion.  

Morata's contest-killing goal against Alaves was his third in the league and seventh overall. Mateo Kovacic was bright in spells against the Basques, too, and Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio have made strong impressions.

There's a collective element as well. Madrid are consistently riding out bumps such as injuries and are responding to being challenged. Zidane has regularly pointed out not only his team's ability to "suffer" but also their capacity to get through it, and that doing so is about more than a reputation. "[Simply] thinking that you're Real Madrid doesn't win you games," he said on Saturday. 

The thing about Madrid, though, is that they're so open to interpretation. The men from the Bernabeu are defined by contrasting extremes and are therefore difficult to conceptualise. There's always another side to it, another half to the story. Settling on what constitutes the truth is so wildly subjective. 

Alongside the late flourish, Saturday's victory over Alaves showed the two-sided nature of Madrid. The hosts' opener, stemming from pressure applied by Deyverson and Theo Hernandez on Toni Kroos and Danilo respectively, was more evidence of the visitors' vulnerability to pressing.

Without the ball, the absence of pressure from the front also saw Alaves move through the lines of Madrid's system with simple forward passes, as though that system was comprised of three parts operating completely independently. 

This is nothing new, either. A glance back at Madrid's 10 league games to date reveals few spells that have completely convinced despite the raw facts. The opening victory over Real Sociedad and the crushing of Real Betis were impressive, but around them have come performances littered with a structural messiness and defensive lapses.

The narrow wins over Celta Vigo and Athletic Club Bilbao stick out in that regard. The draws with Villarreal, Las Palmas and Eibar are the same. As it was against Alaves, fluency has been an issue throughout, and the reliance on Luka Modric and Casemiro to provide balance defies to an extent the notion of depth. 

There's a parallel that's interesting here, too. At this stage last season, Madrid's record read exactly the same as it does now. Under Rafa Benitez, they also sat at the top of the table, and there were elements of their start that pointed to progress: systematic versatility, a slightly greater tactical emphasis and a strong defensive record. 

Concurrently, though, Benitez's Madrid didn't please stylistically. The team looked a little rigid or shackled, and the sensations conflicted with the message conveyed by the table. Like now, it was also true that a gentle run to that point had complicated assessments, blurring the picture. When high-profile clashes arrived, Madrid fell apart. 

Season	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
2015-16	7	3	0	24	4	+20	24
2016-17	7	3	0	28	10	+18	24

Jornada	Opponent	Home/Away
11	Leganes	Home
12	Atletico Madrid	Away
13	Sporting Gijon	Home
14	Barcelona	Away
15	Deportivo La Coruna	Home
16	Valencia	Away
17	Granada	Home
18	Sevilla	Away

Depending on your interpretation, a similar run could be looming now. To date, Zidane's team have faced few genuine threats, and both of the testing fixtures they've contested (Villarreal and Athletic) have come at the Bernabeu.

But awaiting them in the next eight rounds are Atletico, Barcelona, Valencia and Sevilla. All four of those outings are away from home, and trips to Balaidos and El Madrigal follow soon after.

It was this sort of run last season, on the back of a paradoxical opening, that derailed Madrid. Just because something has happened before doesn't mean it will happen again, but the uncertainty in what Madrid are exactly denies any sense of certainty in their ability to negotiate it. 

It's as if every question contains no real answer: Are they playing in third gear by choice or because they can't get out of it? Is Zidane's rotation reinforcing the sense of depth or disrupting continuity? Are the injuries to Casemiro and Modric proving or disproving the quality elsewhere? Does it matter if there is a degree of conflict between results and performance? Are Madrid steadily building or laying down dodgy foundations?

Are they an accelerating diesel, set to gather pace? Or are they a ticking time bomb, waiting to be exposed by those with the tools capable of doing so?

Not Forgotten Amid the Hangover 

• After Atletico's 4-2 win over Malaga on Saturday, Diego Simeone rejected the idea that his side's attacking mentality is something new. "I laugh when people say that only now are we an attacking team and that only now do we play well," he said. The Argentinian's point was that, in their own way, Atleti have always been set up to win and attack with what they've had, but privately even he will acknowledge his team have taken a huge step forward with the ball. Braces for Kevin Gameiro and Yannick Carrasco on Saturday mean Atleti have scored four or more in 10 games this season. Last term, they did that once in 38. 

• Barcelona's 1-0 win over Granada on Saturday night was unquestionably the most surprising result of the round. Well, not the result itself but the scoreline. Barcelona were flat going forward and Granada were impressively sturdy at the back. That's not a sentence that will ever be typed again.

• Sevilla: Just when we thought their away woes were over...

• Quique Sanchez Flores won the battle of the under-pressure managers with Gus Poyet on Sunday, as Espanyol edged Real Betis 1-0 in Seville. The scoreline was harsh on Betis, who were denied by a sterling performance from Diego Lopez in the Espanyol goal. Still, it doesn't look good for Poyet. "If I have to go, then I'd rather do it in a dignified way and not in a false manner," he said. 

• Eibar are doing it again. After going down 1-0 to Villarreal on Sunday, the Basques harassed Fran Escriba's side in the second half and ran out 2-1 winners, propelling them to eighth place in the table. Yes, that's right: tiny Eibar. Eighth. 

• If you didn't catch it, please hunt down a replay of Las Palmas 3-3 Celta Vigo. 

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