MADRID -- Jose Mourinho should be pleased after his Real Madrid easily defeated AC Milan 2-0 in the Champions League. In fact, the Special One has five reasons to be thankful these days.

1. Madrid is in the pink.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil -- both sporting the garish pink boots lesser players have been derided for -- scored the goals, with Ronaldo laying on the pass for Ozil's deflected effort. When Gonzalo Higuain is having a bad day at the office, Mourinho needs his three supporting attackers to pull the strings. Angel di Maria completes Real's attacking triumvirate, which tore Milan's well-tailored defense to shreds. Ronaldo still resembles a shoeless man dancing on a pit of alligators when in possession, but Mourinho might yet turn him into what Manuel Pellegrini and Alex Ferguson could not -- a big-game performer, in the profitable sense of the term.

2. His midfield is not too Xabi.

Last season, an overreliance on Xabi Alonso spraying balls from a deep-lying position saw many a Real attack falter, as its strikers were muscled off the ball. With Sami Khedira offering a running threat and linking Real's forwards and midfield on the floor, Alonso is free to show his full panoply of passing skills, which he did to great effect against a ponderous Milan side.

3. His first-choice side is decided.

With the exception of the injured Sergio Ramos, the team Mourinho fielded is his first-choice 11. Previous coaches have bowed to pressure from the stands and sponsors to give players pitch time, but Mourinho has firmly stamped his authority on team selection. The crowd chanted his name on an electric night in the Bernabeu and that is what Mourinho thrives on. Tonight's victory was Real's second in its past nine matches against teams from the Calcio; that it was Mourinho's first in as many attempts is something the Portuguese is unlikely to allow to pass without comment. Other than an Andrea Pirlo free kick which Iker Casillas tipped onto the bar, Milan rarely looked capable of breaking through a newly obdurate back four. Alvaro Arbeloa, deputizing for Ramos, appeared as though he had played his entire Real career at right back.

4. His first line of defense is … his defense.

Mourinho's cautious mindset defined his tenures at Chelsea and Inter Milan, but the statistics bear witness to an expansive epiphany, afforded him by the extra firepower signed in the summer. In 10 matches, Real has conceded three and scored 21. At the same stage last season, it had scored 31 but conceded 11. Two losses to Barcelona cost Manuel Pellegrini's Real the La Liga title, but its inability to keep Lyon at bay was more costly still, resulting in a sixth straight exit at the first knockout stage of the Champions League. Before that defeat, an arguably less potent Milan had stuck four past Real in two games in the group stage. Tonight, with Mourinho protégé Ricardo Carvalho marshaling the back four, Milan's most distracting runner was a pitch invader in the second minute.

5. His home fans are getting behind him.

Rarely does the Bernabeu exhibit more fury than when scorned by sloth, as the wall of vitriol that greeted Robinho's late introduction evidenced. Coaches, too, can find themselves the target of Madridista ire in the drop of a misplaced pass or an open goal pardoned. Not once did the crowd turn against one of its own despite a few errant balls and occasional over-elaboration in the final third. Mourinho has in 10 games achieved what nobody since Vicente del Bosque managed -- he has the Bernabeu faithful in the pocket of his trademark overcoat and the tricks to beguile them in his sleeve.

Rob Train is a freelance soccer writer for ESPN.com. He is based in Madrid.