La Liga Hangover: The City of Madrid Is White Again, and White Only

Rarely has a substitution ever felt as though it was saying so much, so directly and so forcefully. As the clock ticked into the 83rd minute, as the ball zipped around the pitch from the feet of the men in white, as those behind the southern goal maintained the wall of noise despite the scene in front of them, Cristiano Ronaldo gave a sideways glance and then a nod to Zinedine Zidane. Do it, boss. 

Substitutions can be many things but this was very definitively only one. A hat-trick to his name, a demolition job done, Ronaldo exited with a strut and a hug for his manager, seven minutes plus stoppage time still to go. This wasn't about rest or saving legs or affording opportunity elsewhere or a ceremonial act for a crowd; it was a message from the visitors, a statement—one that reinforced the extent of superiority by saying we don't need him anymore. 

And they didn't. Ronaldo's goals meant that up on the scoreboard it read Atletico Madrid 0, Real Madrid 3. It was done and 10 minutes wouldn't change that; as derby wins go it was emphatic. But more than that, those final minutes inside the Vicente Calderon late on Saturday night felt as though they carried a significance far beyond just this encounter. There was something deeper to this, something wider-reaching. Real hadn't just seized a derby, but the derby. 

"Very few teams come here and win 3-0," said Zidane, according to the official team site. He's right, but more importantly, his team don't come here and win 3-0, not until now.

The Calderon has been Real's house of pain, a venue where they hadn't won in the league since Jose Mourinho was around; where Carlo Ancelotti and Rafa Benitez met the beginning of the end; where not only couldn't they win but couldn't score; where frustration and humiliation had become par for the course. 

This changed all that. There was something about the nature of it that struck as a release, a point from which these teams changed course.

Real haven't played a more complete game under Zidane. Even last season's Clasico triumph at the Camp Nou wasn't anywhere near this. The visitors on Saturday were sharp, slick, organised and united in a way they haven't always been. Their opening half in particular was the best football they've played since the storming run of late 2014. "Phenomenal," said Zidane. 

Apart from two brief spells at the beginning of each half, Atletico didn't get near them. That's a strange sentence to type, and one that rings uncomfortably against a changing background picture at the Calderon.

As much as this felt like a psychological shift for the white half of the capital, Saturday night felt like a significant juncture on an emotional level for the other side of it, too. There was a dejection that was new, air escaping, an unwanted realisation growing. For both teams, you sensed this derby marked the beginning of something.

Zidane's men entered it as league leaders but unconvincing ones. The table had said one thing, but the eye had said another. It's true that persistent injuries have been a problem at the Bernabeu, but it had been more than that: Going into the clash at the Calderon, Real had looked one-dimensional again, somewhat fragile, lacking an identity and conviction in a style. Here, though, they found one. 

Real's chief problem against Simeone's Atleti has been the way their supply line has been relentlessly fractured. Against a four-man midfield, a top-heavy 4-3-3 had always been swamped and suffocated: The three in the middle were routinely outnumbered; the three up front were forever cut off. 

So Zidane did something about it. With Karim Benzema not fully fit and with Casemiro and Toni Kroos missing, the Frenchman opted for a 4-4-2 that functioned like a 4-2-3-1.

Isco sat at the top of the midfield, ahead of Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic. Gareth Bale and Lucas Vazquez started deeper than usual in the wide berths, making it five on four in the middle. Most importantly, Ronaldo embraced a true No. 9 role, the calibration of the team falling into place. 

Zidane later said that "the system wasn't the most important thing. It was more what every player brought to the game themselves." It was the manager's way of deflecting praise from himself and onto his players, but both he and they deserved it. 

From the Real boss, this was the display of management his evolution as a coach needed. No one had ever doubted his presence and what he represents, but this was a significant step, a showcase of versatility and tactical awareness. At times, Real's approach has often felt something like "our players are better than yours." That's overly simplistic, yes, but those have been the sensations too often. This couldn't have been more different. 

Zidane's side was cleverly set up and then cleverer again once out there. Modric's return was crucial for the balance of the midfield, and Isco dazzled ahead of him, connecting the dots in a role that rarely exists in this team.  

Just as notable was the pressure applied from Bale and Vazquez, tracking back, pressing, plugging holes and supporting the midfield. Ronaldo even got in on the act, too. The Portuguese has rarely looked so involved in every sense, a leader by example both with and without the ball. 

It's intriguing to think what Saturday night means for Ronaldo. For several years we've been witnessing his steady evolution toward being a No. 9, but throughout there's been a reluctance from him toward it, a sense that he felt it was an admission he didn't want to make.

But inside the Calderon he saw what it can look like. As a mobile striker, the club's record scorer showed the lot: speed on the break, interplay with his midfield, crisp finishing and a defensive awareness when needed. It was Ronaldo playing in efficient bursts, picking his moments and his moment, too.  

This was the performance, one on a colossal stage, that suggested Ronaldo is now willing to be what suits him more naturally. That matters. Around him, too, Saturday's triumph pointed toward the development of something more collective. According to the official team site, Vazquez called it "crucial." Nacho said it was "perfect." Marcelo dubbed the performance "incredible."

Real had entered the night still searching for clarity and belief. They left it having grabbed hold of both, the sense that they're ready to go on now; that something is genuinely building. 

Atleti are building something themselves, but it's across town at La Peineta and one suddenly wonders how they'll head into it.  

The scoreline of Saturday's derby was probably harsh on Atleti, but it was the manner of it that was concerning. Simeone's men have made a prosperous living for themselves by being the most unaccommodating hosts around, but in the last league derby ever to be held above the motorway on the banks of the Manzanares, you wondered where all that had gone.

You associate Atleti with a snarl, with a dash of nastiness to go with the brilliance. But this is the issue with the shift in identity the club has been undertaking. As the side from the Calderon have grown more expansive, more technical and vastly more talented, some of the other qualities have faded. It's natural but it's also a difficult reality; on Saturday there was a tempered felling to Atleti, little aggression in their play and without that flicker in the eye. 

Atleti went head-to-head with Real on pure footballing ability and lost. It's a defining moment in the complexion of the rivalry. 

Simeone's outfit have now reached a point at which there are several questions but few obvious answers. Do they go back to the full-on gritty version of themselves? Do they push ahead with the attacking transformation? Do they attempt to strike a balance? 

In the build-up to Saturday, Gabi had commented on the shift, hinting toward an uncertainty. "Koke is playing in the middle," he said, according to Aled Bryon of AS. "He's doing it well but perhaps when it comes to defending we're more fragile. We need to go back to being a strong team at the back with everyone working together."

The captain's use of "go back" was significant. And as Ronaldo struck home the third at the Calderon, finishing a blistering move with the help of Bale, it felt even more so.  

According to Dermot Corrigan of ESPN, Simeone spoke afterwards of the need to "take things calmly." His message was that the result and the performance were two different things; that his side's struggles shouldn't be overstated and that the sense of Atleti's inferiority on Saturday shouldn't be extrapolated and viewed too broadly. 

The Argentinian has a point, but it was the mood of he and his team that said more. From Simeone, there was no display of defiance and instead something bordering on quiet resignation. That reflected in his players, who looked as though that certain edge had been taken off them. 

Was this the beginning of the end? Is the Simeone empire in southern Madrid now entering its final stretch? Is the bubble not bursting but ever-so-slowly losing its pressure? 

These questions had lingered even before the derby, but Saturday's defeat seemed to accelerate the psychology of it all, giving the fast-forward button a little tap. 

Atleti have now lost three of their last four games in the league and have made their worst start to a season under Simeone despite the stylistic gains in attack. That comes against a backdrop of more despair in Europe against Real in Milan; on the back of Simeone negotiating a reduction in the length of his contract, viewed by most to be an act of putting down the start of an eventual exit plan. 

What Atleti had clung to was a grip over of Madrid on the domestic front. Though Real had edged them on the continent, they were winning the battle at home. Ownership of the capital was a matter of debate, but Saturday night changed things. 

On Sunday morning, splashed across images of Ronaldo in pose, both the covers of Marca and AS used the verb "mandar," to take charge, to be in command. The night before, Real did and they were, but it didn't feel restricted to that night only. This felt deeper, wider-reaching.  

The city of Madrid looks white again, and white only. 

Follow @TimDCollins