For Real Madrid, Sunday was a day of vindication. After losing all four matches against archrivals Barcelona last season, Los Blancos won the first meeting of 2025-26 between the pair.
It was also a day for celebration. Madrid earned a 2-1 Clásico victory in Xabi Alonso's first match in the dugout for Spanish football's showpiece rivalry.
And yet, not everyone was in a celebratory mood.
In the 72nd minute, Alonso made the choice to withdraw Brazil winger Vinícius Júnior and replace him with his countryman, Rodrygo. Vinícius, last year's Ballon d'Or runner-up, clearly didn't agree with the decision.
The 25-year-old made his displeasure clear as he walked off the pitch, animatedly aiming complaints in the direction of the Madrid dugout, before walking straight on down the tunnel.
Steve McManaman played for Real Madrid between 1999 and 2003, and was on the call for ESPN.
"It's not about you, it's about the team. It's about the collective. It's about winning. It is about going five points clear. It's about beating Barcelona after they beat you four times last year. It's about winning Xabi Alonso's first Clásico as coach," he said on Sunday's episode of ESPN FC. "We shouldn't be talking about someone getting substituted after 75 minutes.
"It drives me mad."
In Alonso's first 13 games in charge of the 2025-26 season, Vinícius has completed 90 minutes just three times. Earlier in the campaign, the player's entourage told ESPN they were not happy with Alonso's use of Vinícius, although the situation has improved since -- playing the full 90 minutes in three of the past six games -- and Alonso has remained publicly supportive.
Rodrygo, meanwhile, has had to remain patient in his pursuit of playing time. As Madrid adjust to Alonso's ways, the 24-year-old has played just 316 minutes -- little more than half the amount played by 18-year-old summer signing Franco Mastantuono and 35 minutes less than Brahim Díaz, someone whom the Brazilian has outplayed by more than 2,800 minutes in the past two seasons.
"It's a lack of respect to the manager and to his teammate who is coming on for him," said Luis García, who made 25 first-team appearances for the Blaugrana after spending 12 years in the club's system, on ESPN FC. "Because Rodrygo can look at him and say, 'Do you think you are better than me and better than anyone else?' And that's the problem."
As one would expect, Alonso remained diplomatic when addressing Vinícius' outburst after the match.
"I'll focus on a lot of the positive things in the game, and good things from Vini," Alonso said in his post-match news conference. "We'll talk about [Vinícius' reaction] of course, but I don't want to move the spotlight away from what's really important.
"We'll talk about it, in the context of the great game it was. Vini contributed a lot. It's an important, deserved victory ... It's important, the feeling of being a competitive team in big games. As for the rest, we'll talk about it."