Real Madrid have been very happy with Xabi Alonso already in these three games as coach.
It does not come as much of a shock that Real Madrid fans are enjoying the style of football Alonso is trying to implement, given what they were used to just a few weeks ago.
Real Madrid were always going to compete for trophies, but the way they were playing under Carlo Ancelotti this season, it looked tough and bleak.
Xabi Alonso reminds Real Madrid fans of Zinedine Zidane with classic quote
Under Zinedine Zidane a few years ago, even though the football was not always the prettiest - though it was most of the time in his first stint - they still got the job done on many occasions.
If you are a fan who was around at the time when Zidane was at the peak of his powers - winning Champions League titles one after the other - you'd know some of his go-to quotes. Even Ancelotti took a few pages out of his book.
Alonso has just reminded fans of those quotes in a recent press conference.
When asked about the club's next match against Juventus - their first knockout match under Alonso - the manager said: "Once you are through to the round of 16 every game is a final.”
This is also something that Ancelotti used to say, but it became a phrase that was so prevalent during Zidane's first stint, because he used to say it as soon as the knockout stages of the Champions League would come around.
Zidane was able to back it up though, as Real Madrid won all but two of his Champions League ties, which in five seasons is a huge feat that not many people have been able to achieve.
Let's hope Alonso is able to take Real Madrid to similar heights. He did take his Leverkusen to the semi-finals of the Europa League in his first season, and then the final in his second. So he has a proven track record of being a good coach in the knockout stages.
Things will improve, as the squad he had was also not as good as this one. Hopefully Real Madrid are able to go deep in this competition and win it all.