When you've suffered a historically heavy defeat, a change of scenery might do you good. If that's the case, Real Madrid 's players are in luck. Just 19 hours after losing 5-2 in the derby at Atlético Madrid on Saturday, Los Blancos were boarding a flight to Kazakhstan.

They've just travelled 4,000 miles east -- from Western Europe to Central Asia -- to play Kairat Almaty in the UEFA Champions League . Spanish newspaper Diario AS described Madrid's trip as "therapy at 30,000 feet;" another newspaper, Marca, said the journey came "at the worst possible time."

If conceding five goals in a derby was uncharted territory -- before Saturday's humbling loss at the Metropolitano, it hadn't happened for 75 years -- then this is an equally novel experience for Madrid.

- Kirkland: Big

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