Kylian Mbappé takes home the match-ball, but his teammate won the hearts of Madridistas.
Kylian Mbappé put in yet another all-timer performance for Real Madrid, proving yet again that he is the best player in the world right now.
Against Kairat Almaty, the Frenchman netted on three occasions. It marked four Champions League hat-tricks for Mbappé now, putting him in the same caliber as the Real Madrid legend Karim Benzema.
With plenty more years left in his tank, many predict that Kylian Mbappé will now go on to set an entirely new Champions League hat-trick record. It is not beyond the realms of possibility, to say the least.
However, despite Kylian Mbappé's goals securing the result for Real Madrid, he was not the biggest game-changer for Los Blancos.
Dani Ceballos was reintroduced to the Real Madrid starting lineup for this Champions League match, and he was Real Madrid's biggest surprise. The engine room for Real Madrid, Ceballos proved that he still has so much moe to give.
Against Kairat, Dani Ceballos completed 99 passes. That is absolutely incredible, and more than a pass per minute. This was a game record, as no player came close to breaking that 99.
Of all the passes he attempted, few of them were wasteful. Not only did Ceballos complete the most passes in the match, but he also had the highest pass completion rate in the match (95%).
Lastly, and perhaps even more impressively, Ceballos made five defensive contributions. That was the most well-rounded performance we have seen from a Real Madrid player in a long time.
Ceballos played deep, but he chugged the ball along well for Real Madrid. He provided exactly what they've missed all season, but especially in that disaster against Atleti: a deep-lying playmaker.
There is plenty of rhetoric that Real Madrid needs to look externally to finally replace Toni Kroos, and I completely agree with that. However, until an external recruit is brought in to deal with that task, Real Madrid really needs to be using Dani Ceballos more than they have been using him.
Ceballos is Real Madrid through and through. He has plenty of experience at the highest level. I get it, Real Madrid fans would like to move on and have a better option than Ceballos. But while he's here, Xabi Alonso will use him.
Besides, nobody can turn up their nose at that performance. We must give credit where credit's due. What a performance from Ceballos.