Real Madrid Have Work To Do With Cristiano Ronaldo's Ban Over

Cristiano Ronaldo's five-game ban for shoving a referee during the Spanish Super Cup has ended. This is good news for Madrid fans because, barring a promising win over Real Sociedad this weekend, they have not been the fire-breathing galactico dragon we all thought we were going to see.

Consecutive draws against Valencia and Levante put Madrid four points down from Barcelona, but now that the second-best player in the world is returning from suspension, Madrid will no longer have to rely on the heroics of Borja Mayoral to win games.

Based on his play in Real Madrid's win over Apoel Nicosia in the Champions League (he was only suspended for La Liga), Ronaldo has not picked up any rust during his suspension.

He is going to have to continue that form, because Karim Benzema, Mateo Kovacic and Theo Hernandez are out injured for the time being.

At the beginning of the season, we thought La Liga would be Real Madrid steamrolling everybody while Barcelona hang on for dear life. However, it looks like it's slowly turning into the two best players in the world dragging injury-depleted rosters toward the finish line. Which might be more fun to watch, honestly.