The Goal: A Tenth Champions League Title!

Although Barcelona had also gone on a winning streak after losing El Clásico, Real Madrid's emphatic 6–0 home victory over Zaragoza, which put them six points clear at the top of the table, still gave them a much more favorable situation heading into Christmas.

After five months, Real Madrid had finally shown their true strength and value.

Spanish football experts all agreed that Benitez's team had finally assembled a complete tactical puzzle.

The reason was simple: Kaka's injury absence had not affected Real Madrid.

In the match against Zaragoza, Sneijder had been outstanding. Not only had he scored a brace, but he had also provided an assist. It could be said to have been his best performance in the past two years, as if the Dutch midfielder had returned to the dazzling form he had shown when he first joined the team. This filled people with anticipation for the second half of the season.

The famous news-breaking outlet Cadena SER subsequently reported that, because Sneijder had continued to perform so well, Real Madrid had temporarily shelved their original plan to do everything possible to sign David Silva during the winter break.

Real Madrid had always maintained a strong interest in David Silva. Rumors had repeatedly emerged as early as the summer transfer window. At the time, it had been widely rumored that Sneijder would leave and David Silva would join, but Valencia had later insisted on keeping David Silva, while Sneijder had remained with the team, and the transfer had ultimately come to nothing.

Now, with Kaka out following surgery, the plan to sign David Silva during the winter break had once again been put on the agenda.

During La Liga's fourteenth round, when Real Madrid had visited Valencia, Valdano had represented Real Madrid's management in contacting Valencia and discussing