An incredible tally of 200 La Liga goals, a record-breaking 23 league hat-tricks, 31 goals in all competitions for club and country and the season has not even reached its midway point. It seems as though not a week goes by without Cristiano Ronaldo further etching his name into football's history books as he enjoys arguably the form of his career with Real Madrid.
There is no doubt that Ronaldo deserves all the praise. With the Ballon d'Or ceremony just around the corner, even some of Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer's biggest fans have thrown the towel in on this season's top individual accolade.
Ronaldo has been sublime to watch in the opening four months of this campaign, but he has been the dazzling tip of an almighty iceberg. His success may have cast a shadow over the endeavours of others. James Rodriguez has impressed, Isco has returned to the heights that wowed the Bernabeu crowd at the start of last season, and Toni Kroos has been a perfect, perhaps even better, replacement for Xabi Alonso. Madrid have looked unstoppable ever since that 5-1 victory over Basel kicked off their record-equalling 18-match winning run.
One aspect of the European champions' success, however, has been overlooked. Madrid do not exactly have a glittering history of stubborn defences, not in recent years. It has often been a case of buying the best in the world in attack and the defence will look after itself. "You score one; we score two, three or four."
The current defence is looking to buck that trend, though.
A 4-2 defeat against Real Sociedad left many Madrid fans contemplating a long, hard season defensively. A 2-1 loss at home against Atletico Madrid followed, and fans were whistling at goalkeeper Iker Casillas. They wondered if it was back to square one in looking for some balance after the sales of Alonso and Angel Di Maria, who shone in attack but also worked hard defensively.
Fast-forward 18 matches and Madrid have conceded just nine goals in all competitions. After demolishing Deportivo 8-2 at the Riazor in September and Elche 5-1 at home in the following match, they have conceded just three goals in nine matches. One of those was against Barcelona and another deep into stoppage time when they played with 10 men against Malaga.
To put things into context, Madrid have conceded four goals in their last 10 matches. Barcelona, who have the best defence in La Liga with just six conceded all season, have let in all six in their last 10. In their last 720 minutes of football, Madrid have conceded just twice in all competitions. It's time that a bit of the limelight was directed on the team as a defensive unit.
It didn't happen overnight, admittedly. Casillas needed a run of games to get his confidence back following a disastrous summer with Spain and an error in the Champions League final that left many thinking his days in the Spanish capital were numbered. All apart from Carlo Ancelotti, who had faith in the Mostoles man and for the most part he has not let his manager down. Those jeers directed at the Madrid captain have soon turned into cheers; a sign of how fickle fans can be at times.
Ancelotti has the advantage of three of his back four having played together for seven years. Sergio Ramos, who celebrated his 300th Madrid game in Saturday night's victory over Celta Vigo, arrived in 2005 with Marcelo and Pepe signed a few years later. Dani Carvajal may have only returned in the summer of 2013 but the full-back came through the Madrid youth set-up and took to his Bernabeu return like the proverbial duck to water. He knows the club and its heavy demands.
There was always a sense that although all three of those signings can be world class on their day, such days were not often enough. An accident was always around the corner.
Ancelotti has been keen to improve his side as a defensive unit from back to front and has been happy with how things have turned out, with his midfield trio deserving a mention. Kroos sits in front of the back four and although his job is to orchestrate the attacks from deep, he offers a cushion at the back.
Luka Modric is the perfect box-to-box man while Rodriguez, a player who has been used to playing as a No. 10 for Colombia, has tracked back to help out. They also need to sit in when Carvajal and Marcelo are given licence to push forward out wide. For the most part, things have worked seamlessly. This Madrid is the definition of a team and not a set of talented individuals.
Perhaps the clearest sign of these improvements came in the second half of the Celta win. Given Ronaldo's aerial abilities he has often got back to help defend set-pieces but it often seemed like a token gesture -- now it seems he almost enjoys it. He won a couple of towering headers to clear the danger from Celta set-pieces and also helped set up a defensive wall against free-kicks, applauding Gareth Bale when he deflected one effort wide for a corner.
The beauty for Madrid is that they have players such as Raphael Varane providing back-up. The Frenchman's time will come as a regular first-team starter sooner rather than later and he will still be used frequently this season, with some arguing that he already deserves a starting role.
At the moment, he seems content with the way things are and that is perfect for Madrid. Nacho has shown he's up to the task of filling in when needed while Alvaro Arbeloa and Fabio Coentrao also provide experienced back-up at full-back.
There will still be errors at the back between now and the end of the season but Madrid have firmed up defensively and that should be a worry for their opponents. Ancelotti's men are always going find the back of the net -- failing to do so only once this season in the Spanish Super Cup defeat at Atletico Madrid -- but now they're capable of shutting teams out too.