Brought on in the 77th minute against Leipzig, Brahim Díaz delivered an assist and completed 93% of his passes. The Real Madrid man is pushing for a starting place ahead of the Clásico on 25 October.
Thirteen minutes is little time to change a game. Yet that was all Brahim Díaz needed, coming on in the 77th minute of Real Madrid – RB Leipzig, to deliver an assist, three days before the Clásico against FC Barcelona.
A cameo that counts
The attacking midfielder, a Morocco international, completed 26 of his 28 attempted passes, a precision rate of 93%, and created 4 goalscoring chances, 3 of them clear-cut, according to Mountakhab.net.
The scoreboard already favoured Real Madrid, 4-1 winners over RB Leipzig in the Champions League. In the 87th minute, Brahim Díaz found Yan Diomandé, the Ivory Coast international winger, with a cross that was turned in with a volley.
According to LiveFoot, Diomandé became the youngest African player to score and assist in the same Champions League match for 23 years.
José Mourinho, the Real Madrid head coach, highlighted the contribution of Brahim Díaz and his substitutes, according to The False 9. Against Leipzig, Real had initially fielded an attacking line-up featuring Bernardo Silva, Kylian Mbappé and Arda Güler, according to Al Jazeera.
Mourinho on his bench
Back in the press room on the management of his bench, Mourinho explained the intention behind Diomandé’s introduction: “The intention behind bringing on Diomande wasn’t to think about El Clasico; it was to think about this squad and to know that we had a squad with plenty of pace.”
That phrasing rules out any link with the Clásico and emphasises the speed and depth of the squad. The message, then, is about the strength of the bench, not about specific preparation for the Catalan rivals.
This rotation has consequences for the pecking order. According to Mountakhab.net, Brahim Díaz is knocking on the door of the starting XI, buoyed by his statistics on the night. Competition in attack remains fierce, which makes the staff’s decision all the less automatic.
The Clásico in sight
Real Madrid claimed a third win in three Champions League matchdays, a perfect run that puts them 4th in the league phase, according to Canal+.
The Clásico is scheduled for Sunday 25 October 2026 at the Santiago Bernabéu. Brahim Díaz, for his part, had sent his support to the Morocco futsal team, crowned African champions on Wednesday evening, according to LeSiteinfo.