AFP Oct 22, 2026 06:13+08:00
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Vinícius's gift and his golden replacement: has Real Madrid become a new team before the Clásico?
Originals Analysis
Barcelona vs Real Madrid · Barcelona · Real Madrid · LaLiga · Real Madrid vs RB Leipzig · RB Leipzig · Champions League · Vinicius Junior · Y. Diomande · J. Mourinho · Spain · Germany · Brazil · Côte d'Ivoire · Portugal
No voice rises above that of the Clásico. Spanish football's two giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona, meet in a showdown that has everyone talking, and the spotlight falls firmly on the two coaches: Portugal's José Mourinho and Germany's Hansi Flick. Real Madrid visit Barcelona at the Spotify Camp Nou next Sunday in the tenth round of the Spanish league.
12 goals in a week
Real Madrid rolled into the Clásico in fearsome form, their attack firing on all cylinders across the last three fixtures in La Liga and the Champions League. Twelve goals in three games tells the story. Los Blancos put four past Roma, four past Leipzig in the Champions League and another four past Sevilla in La Liga. That single week topped what Madrid had managed in their previous six matches combined. They had scored just 11 across that stretch, a rate of fewer than two goals a game.
Vinícius's gift
Here's the surprise: 9 of the 12 goals Real Madrid scored across their last three matches arrived without Brazilian star Vinícius Júnior on the pitch. The capital club put three past Roma after Vinícius went off, then did the same to Leipzig with a brace, on top of the four they stuck on Sevilla in a game the Brazilian missed through suspension. Stranger still, Real Madrid have won 10 of the 11 league matches they've played without their Brazilian star over the last three years. One defeat, that's all. Vinícius will again be missing for the upcoming Clásico against Barcelona. That might just be a good omen for José Mourinho's side, especially with the Brazilian's form on the slide.
Diomande holds the secret
Meanwhile, Ivorian winger Yan Diomande is enjoying his best spell since arriving at Real Madrid last summer from Leipzig. The Ivorian has had a hand in 6 goals across his last 4 matches for the Royal side, scoring 3 and setting up the same number. Five of those six came while playing on the left wing, the very position he is expected to fill in the upcoming Clásico. What separates Diomande from Vinícius is not skill, nor even pace. It is the ease of his decision-making. He rarely weighs more than one option between dribbling, passing and shooting, as the Brazilian tends to do. That quality shows clearly in the goals he has set up recently. These were not magical passes, but simple ones that suited the moment.
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Defensive crisis
Yet this attacking excellence, which emerged specifically in the absence of Vinícius Júnior, does not paper over the defensive crisis gripping Real Madrid, whether the Brazilian plays or not. Madrid have scored 12 goals in their last three matches. They have also conceded in every one of them. Five goals have gone past the Royal club, three of them in Rome, plus one each from Sevilla and Leipzig. That is a rate approaching two goals per game, dangerously high. Factor in the attacking power Barcelona possess and that defensive crisis could be the point at which the Clásico is lost, undoing every attacking solution Real Madrid have found.