Real Madrid won their second Champions League game of the season, maintaining their 100% record in the competition after two games.
All things considered, Xabi Alonso can be pretty happy. His side responded well to their worst result in recent history, at the weekend against Atleti, by winning away from home (almost in a new continent, no less) and keeping a clean sheet.
Xabi Alonso said before the game kicked off that the team must move on from the Atleti result. And the players took that messaging in its purest form, and gave the fans a reason to believe again.
However, among the series of good performances from players, one stuck out like a sore thumb for all the wrong reasons.
Vinícius Júnior was Real Madrid's worst player against Kairat
Vinícius Júnior was incredibly frustrating to watch for Real Madrid tonight. He got himself into promising positions, but seemed to overcomplicate every task he was given.
The Brazil international was dragged off the pitch at the 70 minute mark, replaced by Rodrygo. It's unlikely that Xabi Alonso subbed him off for any reason other than keeping him fresh, but nobody can deny it was an underwhelming and wasteful performance from Vini.
Vini, the Real Madrid legend, registered two shots and didn't score, but only completed 75% of his attempted passes. Yes, one out of three passes went uncompleted.
This is not good enough for a player of Vini's standards, and he will know that.
Rodrygo gave Vini Jr a fast-track pass to the bench
This season so far, Xabi Alonso has shown a ruthless nature to remove players from the starting lineup if he doesn't feel like they fit right. Vini has already learned it this season, and let's be frank, he's doing very little to justify starting him again.
When you combine the almost immediate impact of Rodrygo, who set up Arda Güler to assist Kylian Mbappé, it doesn't look great for Vini Jr.
After 12 minutes on the pitch, Rodrygo then dazzled past the Kairat players and assisted Eduardo Camavinga to wrap up the game for Real Madrid. Rodrygo showed that direct play, matched with a cutting-edge end product, is much better than looking fancy on the ball.
The spotlight won't be on Vini too much, as the game was won, and Real Madrid never really looked like losing. However, he won't have liked that one, given how heated the competition for places already is in the Real Madrid lineup.
Next up, Real Madrid plays Villarreal in La Liga. I would argue that this is a game more meant for Rodrygo. It just doesn't make sense to keep playing Vini and Mbappé in the same team, as two players who are almost identical on the ball.