Girona 1-4 Real Madrid: 5 talking points

#5 Gareth Bale is taking over the talismanic mantle

Bale is in a fine form right now

I know it's just two games into the new league campaign and it's hard to deduce anything at this point in time. But Gareth Bale has been a different beast ever since La Liga commenced and had another telling contribution in today's triumph with a goal and an assist.

The Welshman showed an incredible burst of pace when he beat his marker and latched on to Isco's beautiful pass before the sumptuous finish beyond David Soria. That was second league goal having also been on target in the 2-0 opening day victory over Getafe too. If you thought his job for the day was done, then Bale had other ideas. A neat one-two with Modric later, he raced through towards the byline and squared off for Benzema to apply the finishing touches.

So in both games now, Bale has had his fingerprints over it. And today, besides the goal and the assist, he also completed 3 dribbles and made 3 key passes. It's a sign of the player getting back to his best again. The 29-year old is thriving in the void left by Ronaldo and his rich vein of form suggests he's going to have a huge say in Madrid's fortunes this term.