Vinicius and Bale are day and night at Real Madrid LaLiga Santander Taking different paths

Real Madrid are back to their old ways and on Sunday they did it by picking up three points ahead of next Saturday's Clasico meeting with Barcelona, which isn't to forget the 'other' meeting between the two in the Copa del Rey second leg on Wednesday.

Despite the 2-1 win against Levante, Madrid were not at their best and, unlike prior to the first leg, they are not coming into the Clasico in peak form; Los Blancos appear to have lost some of the dynamism they had started to show.

Vinicius Junior was again the main threat and the one player who looked likely to unbalance Levante. The pitch was poor and the hosts managed to stop the teenager, who showed once more that he has work to do and needs to improve his final product, be it shooting or assisting.

It's clear, though, that Vinicius is more than a promising youngster and he has the ability to go to the very top. This comes at a time when Gareth Bale is fighting with everyone and everything in his path, even his teammates, while the Brazilian is leaving everyone he comes across in awe.

Vinicius and Bale represent two very different ways of understanding a collective sport like football. The Brazilian is opening doors, avoiding barriers and helping Madrid when they need it most; conversely, the Welshman does nothing other than close the doors that his team open as they look to encourage his bravery and positive football.

Bale scored the penalty that won the game for Madrid, but football is a team sport and by sharing his sorrows he made the goal about him. Gestures such as rejecting Lucas Vazquez's congratulations and turning his back on the team are not good.

What happened at Levante makes it clear that Madrid reach this double header against Barcelona with Vinicius as their main threat. An 18-year-old kid is the one responsible to carry Madrid on his shoulders. Nobody else can do it.

It's not just Bale, either. Toni Kroos, for example, has been decisive in every Madrid success since his 2014 arrival but this season he has not been the same player.

Marcelo, too, has the same story as the German and all of those underperforming players have three games to prove what they still offer to the team.