The top two in La Liga are currently being held apart by Levante. A fact that is sure to bring a smile to the face of the neutral. Everyone loves an underdog; right?

But once, inevitably, Levante step aside and allow the two leviathans to battle it out for top spot those same neutrals will be salivating over Barcelona’s awe inspiring football and chastising cynical Real.

I know, because I’ve been there and done it. But this term, there’s something going on at the Bernabeu which is making Real Madrid likeable again.

Maybe it is the emergence of a couple of players who have been in the shadows a bit as of late.

In the past fortnight, Gonzalo Higuain has netted an astonishing trio of hat-tricks. Showing that he is every bit as capable as producing the magic that we’ve become so used to seeing from Ronaldo. Higuain has shown a real hunger in recent weeks to drop deep and take on the midfielders, often bundling through them in a fashion much less majestic than his Portuguese team-mate but the end product is the same. One of the massive positives for Los Merengues this season so far is that the critics and doubters of Higuain are being dispelled.

Another player, often wonderful, sometimes woeful, is Kaka. His form in a Real Madrid shirt has been patchy; restricted to time on the bench and even more on the injury table, Kaka has only impressed in short bursts during his spell in Spain. Now though, he’s starting to take the form of a whole different player – the Kaka we were used to seeing playing in red and black stripes – the player who had the world at his feet and the World Player of the Year award in his arms. He’s had a tough time at Madrid but is now starting to show the form we’ve rarely seen since his time at Milan. Having already made ten appearances this season, compared to only 20 for the entire 2010/11 season, it is clear that a run of games is making all the difference to the Brazilian. His role through the centre does not suit him as well as playing at the head of a diamond does and he still looks uncomfortable as a play-maker at times but game-by-game, Kaka is impressing more and more.

Add into the mix Madrid’s German midfielders; Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira and Nuri Sahin (Yes, he’s a Turk, but German born) and they have three of the brightest prospects in Europe about to start hitting their peak. Ozil and Khedira emerged onto the world stage with a bang at the World Cup in South Africa and Bundesliga fans will be aware the impact Sahin had on Dortmund’s rise to the top.

It is not so much an emergence of talent but the time has come for certain members of the squad to step up to the plate and deliver; and Real Madrid are becoming a stronger team for it. The dependency on Ronaldo seems to be lessening with every passing game. With these players looking comfortable in a Real Madrid shirt, this can only be a good thing for their title ambitions – the fact that Ronaldo has hit 96 goals in 101 games is not the reason they have not won the league – but it is the reason they have been finishing second. His goals alone have not been enough to propel Real Madrid to the title when there is nobody else there to provide the goods along with him; one man alone cannot win a league. Not even Lionel Messi could do that.

As Real lose the dependency on Ronaldo their chance of success can only go up.

I may not look at Madrid with the same awe that I did ten years ago and indeed I may never do so again. There are aspects of the club at present that infuriate, exasperate and even sadden me on occasions. That is not what football is about.

Conversely, we find it so easy to wax lyrical and salivate over Barcelona as for the most part they present the positives of the beautiful game and Madrid have been viewed by some as their scheming, cynical rivals. It is not quite the era of ‘Los Galacticos’ when you could pick the Real Madrid first 11 from the top of your head.

For now at least it is refreshing to see those that normally hit the headlines at Real Madrid slip into the background for a while and let other take the limelight. For me at least, Real Madrid are looking like the Real deal again.

Photo courtesy of Blog Gallery.