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Real Madrid were back in league action after a two-week break for international fixtures and they put out a controlled performance in a 3-1 home victory over Real Sociedad at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The visitors are one of the form teams in LaLiga this season and came into the fixture in fifth place, just two points behind Real Madrid and they would have been looking to secure a major scalp by denting Real Madrid's confidence in front of their own fans.
Their course was given a massive boost when William Jose put them ahead inside the first three minutes after Sergio Ramos inexplicably sold Thibaut Courtois short with a careless backpass, but the hosts rallied on and pulled one back through Karim Benzema to go into the break on level terms.
Federico Valverde continued with his impressive trajectory with a well-taken goal from the edge of the area right after the restart (although his shot was aided by a massive deflection) and Luka Modric made sure of all three points with a left-footed half volley.
Zinedine Zidane would have been pleased with the output of his wards to thwart the challenge posted by the Basque side and here, we shall be highlighting four talking points from the matchday 13 fixture at the Santiago Bernabeu.
#3 Real Madrid issue perfect response to Barcelona
Both Real Madrid and Barcelona came into the matchday level on points at the summit of the table but it was the Catalans who kicked of the matchday with a hard-fought comeback 2-1 victory over bottom-placed Leganes at the Butarque.
This coupled with the fact that Real Madrid's city rivals Atletico could only post a 1-1 draw with Granada meant that Los Blancos needed all three points to keep up their momentum in the league.
Despite falling behind early on, the 33-time LaLiga champions never looked in doubt of picking up all three points and their victory was a justified result for their performance on the night.
The win means that Real Madrid are now unbeaten in six matches in all competitions and it seems a very long time ago when there were talks of crisis in the team.
Zinedine Zidane has stated that his side's aim this season is to wrest the league title from Barcelona and if they are to keep churning out performances like this, it would not be far-fetched to suggest that they could be crowned league champions come May next year.
#2 Real Madrid players bring their A-game to the fore
Other than the uncharacteristic lapse in concentration early on by skipper Sergio Ramos, it was a largely comfortable victory for Real Madrid and this was down to the displays of their players on the night.
Thibaut Courtois was relatively untested but he delivered when called upon, while Feddie Valverde continued his fine form and got a well-taken goal from the edge of the area.
Alongside him, Luka Modric was almost unplayable and capped up a fine performance with two assist and a goal and Karim Benzema continued in his role as Real Madrid's go-to man and drew his side level with his league-high 10th goal on the season.
Eden Hazard is slowly but surely growing into the team and showed his abilities against Sociedad and Rodrygo showed flashes of his promise opposite the Belgian.
The one drawback on the night was when the Brazilian was substituted for Gareth Bale and unexpectedly, the Bernabeu crowd turned on the Welshman, taking offense at his posing with the banner showing that he prioritised Wales and golf before the capital club.
Real Madrid have one of the most talented squads in world football and on their day, only a handful of teams can step up to them and unfortunately for Sociedad, they were first-hand witnesses of this.
#1 Real Sociedad fail to offer much of a challenge
It can be argued that Real Sociedad have been the most entertaining teams in LaLiga thus far and while the usual heavy-hitters like Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have faltered, the Basque outfit have thrived and are expected to challenge for the European places.
Under Imanol Alguacil, 'La Real' have impressed with their expressive style of play and their charge has been led by the in-form Real Madrid loanee Martin Odegaard, with the Norwegian international riding high on his return to the Spanish top-flight.
Having sat out Sociedad's last two fixtures due to injury, the 20-year-old had a chance to step onto the Santiago Bernabeu over four years after he became the club's youngest-ever first-team player in April 2015.
It was expected that he would lead the visitors' charge as they attempted to stop Real Madrid, but it was an underwhelming display from the former Vitesse man as well as his teammates.
Though there might be a vast difference in the quality of players in both sides, Sociedad's form this season meant that it would not have been utterly surprising if they left the Bernabeu with something, but as it happened, they failed to perform at their usual standards and were good value for their loss.
