Kylian Mbappé’s fourth Champions League hat trick helped Real Madrid thrashed Kairat Almaty 5-0 on Tuesday.
Xabi Alonso’s side were humbled 5-2 defeat at Atlético Madrid on Sunday and then had to make a 13-hour trip to Kazakhstan to bounce back from the painful derby defeat.
Alonso made a raft of changes but kept Mbappé as the focal point of the attack and the France forward responded with a first-half penalty and two superb finishes after the break before substitutes Eduardo Camavinga and Brahim Díaz netted late on as Madrid made it two wins from two in Europe.
Vinícius Júnior took the armband in the absence of the injured Dani Carvajal and should have opened the scoring in the 14th minute but chipped wide.
ESPN reports that Arda Güler went close next with a shot deflected wide before Mbappé’s curler was well saved by Sherkhan Kalmurza in the Kairat goal.
Kalmurza was involved again soon after, but for the wrong reasons as he reacted naively to Egor Sorokin’s poor back header and wiped out Franco Mastantuono inside the penalty area.
It gave Mbappé the chance to score his third consecutive penalty in the competition — he converted two spot-kicks in Madrid’s opener against Marseille — and he duly dispatched from 12 yards to make it 1-0 after 25 minutes.
Guler tested Kalmurza again soon after with a long-range effort which was spilled before Mastantuono sent an effort narrowly off target via the slightest deflection.
Kairat ended the half with some attacking intent, but Valeri Gromyko wasted a promising position with a wayward shot from outside the area seven minutes before the break.
Alonso would have hoped for a second goal soon after the break and it arrived in the 52nd minute through Mbappé, who produced a wonderful chipped finish after Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois’s long kick.
