A year ago, Real Madrid destroyed Schalke 04 6-1 on German soil before finishing up the round of 16 Champions League matchup with a 9-2 aggregate win.

That scoreline is unlikely to be replicated in 2014-15 after Real Madrid's 2-0 in Germany on Wednesday, but the defending European champions' passage to the next round is all but assured.

What did we learn from the victory for Los Blancos?

CR7 is Almost Back

It has been a frustrating 2015 for Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite being awarded the Ballon d'Or as the best player in the world, Real Madrid's talisman has seen himself criticized heavily for the woeful slump he has found himself in over the last few weeks. But it isn't only lack of scoring that is bringing his pedigree down, but the resurgence of his great rival Lionel Messi and his 14 goals and nine assists in 2015.

Ronaldo regained a bit of honor and dignity in the Schalke game with a goal and assist to bring his calendar year stats to a more respectable five goals and three assists through nine matches. The goal, an athletic header, was the kind of goal that has not been seen from Ronaldo in quite some time. The assist, in which he split two players with minimal real estate before dishing off to Marcelo, was arguably an even better display from the superstar. He was also unlucky not to have two goals after his gloriously taken free kick was shut down by an impressive save from goalie Timon Wellenreuther.

Ronaldo still had his sour points throughout the night with only a 78 percent passing success rate and just one key pass. He rarely found room with which to navigate thanks to Schalke's 5-3-2 set up.

That said, this was his finest performance of 2015 and hopefully a harbinger of more greatness to come.

The Flanks

Madrid's attack was rather sterile throughout the night with Gareth Bale barely making an impression and the players in the middle of the park looking a bit cautious. Part of that was Schalke's own aggressive pursuit of the ball, but on some level this remained a Madrid that is slumping poorly right now. There seems to be a timidity in the attack with players almost scared of being exposed on the counter.

About the only places on the pitch where there was some creativity was on the flanks. Marcelo, arguably the best player on the pitch, was constantly looking for space on the left side. On the opposite wing, Dani Carvajal was also creating, but his injury halfway through the second half had Los Blancos relying more and more on Marcelo to create something.

It is essential to note that both goals came directly from plays on the extremes of the pitch, something that Madrid should not become too comfortable with. Moreover, of its 11 shots on goal, only four came from within the box and two of those were just inside the penalty area. That is not a great stat for a team with such firepower and will certainly bode poorly against a better side.

The Defense

Schalke did manage eight shots in this game and in reality they deserved a better fate than they obtained. At one point, the team hit the post on a shot that would have tied the game at 1-1. Varane was solid in taking away opportunities, but Pepe looked a bit unsteady in his hotly anticipated return.

It was a better defensive display from the group overall, and a marked improvement over other more recent outings. That said, there is some work to do as Madrid still looks rather susceptible at the back and could be exploited severely in tougher match-ups.