Alvaro Arbeloa called Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior "the two best players in the world" after Real Madrid's 2-0 win over Villarreal.
Mbappe opened the scoring in the 47th minute, with Vinicius playing a key role in the build-up, before the Frenchman doubled his tally with a brilliant penalty in stoppage time.
After also scoring a brace at Villarreal last season, Mbappe is the first Madrid player in the 21st century to score multiple goals in two visits to Estadio de la Ceramica in LaLiga.
The victory also took Los Blancos above Barcelona in the league table, though the Blaugrana face lowly Real Oviedo on Sunday.
Arbeloa was full of praise for both Mbappe and Vinicius, with the latter receiving criticism in recent weeks after his reported fallout with former boss Xabi Alonso.
"They're the two best players in the world. Two very, very game-changing players," said Arbeloa
"We try to get them on the ball as much as possible. Vini receives it out wide and Mbappe makes runs into space. I'm not going to tell you anything new about them.
"But I'm very happy with their form and their work. They're very committed to the team: they're the first to press, to link up with the midfielders, to show effort, solidarity... and I'm very pleased that the reward is coming in the form of goals."
2 - Kylian Mbappé scored two goals in his visit to Villarreal in @LaLigaEN last season and today; he is the first Real Madrid player to score 2+ goals in two visits to the Submarine's ground in the 21st century in the competition.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 24, 2026
Sweet. pic.twitter.com/ETtVt9Ubde
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois also highlighted the threat Mbappe and Vinicius pose to opposition defences.
He told RMTV: "In the end, they really unbalance the other teams. They're a nightmare for defences. You can stop them for 60, 70, 80 minutes. But they have so much quality that they always end up finding the gap.
"Kylian saw the gap perfectly on the first goal, and on the second, he added that extra touch to draw the penalty. But we're all in this together, and many of us can contribute to the attack."