It was a game for the romantics — the Champions League first timers versus the 15-time champions — but when reality hit there was only one conceivable outcome as Real Madrid overcame Kairat with ease thanks to a Kylian Mbappe hat-trick.

Real Madrid are back in Champions League action, looking to make it two wins from two in the league phase of the competition. They have made the gruelling 4,000

Julián Álvarez has scored twice to help Atletico Madrid beat fierce rival Real Madrid 5-2 in a thrilling Spanish league derby.

Alvarez’s last experience in a derbi against Madrid was an incredibly painful one, with his infamous ‘double-touch’ penalty leading directly to Atletico crashing out of the Champions League against their neighbours in the round-of-16 second leg at the Metropolitano in March.

Julian Alvarez's majestic free kick completed a second-half brace in a scintillating Madrid derby on Saturday, as Atletico Madrid ran past Real Madrid 5-2 at the Metropolitano Stadium in Spain.

The long flight east marks Madrid's first UCL clash with a team from the Central Asian nation and the first time Kairat, who knocked out Celtic in the playoffs back in August, have played a side from Spain.

In a surprising turn of events, Thibaut Courtois, the Belgian goalkeeper of Real Madrid, faces the potential removal of his commemorative plaque from the