Real Madrid came away from the Martinez Valero with three points and a long list of complaints, but they also came away with the clearest evidence yet that Yan Diomande is ready. The 19-year-old was the best player in white in Tuesday’s 3-2 win at Elche, and then produced the image of the night on his way off the pitch.
Yan Diomande was Real Madrid’s most dangerous player at Elche
This was a second consecutive start for the Ivorian, after he was handed his first in the previous round against Rayo Vallecano, and it was comfortably his most convincing performance as a Madrid player. He set up Kylian Mbappe for the second goal with a pass from the right, and when the game turned – Elche hauling it back to 2-2 before Carlos Espi settled it in the 91st minute – he was the one Madridista still running at people.
The numbers back up the eye test. Diomande completed nine take-ons, more than any other player on the pitch, made 11 progressive carries, again the most in the match, and produced the highest open-play threat figure of anyone involved, according to Managing Madrid’s data review. He added three key passes, a joint-high, and did it after picking up a harsh early booking that could easily have made a teenager shrink.
He is not the finished article. He still lunges in defensively when a winger runs at him, and he was slow to track back for Elche’s second goal. But Marca described him as unplayable for long stretches, noting that he reached the byline again and again and only lacked a team-mate on the end of the cross.
The badge kiss: Yan Diomande’s answer to the abuse in Elche
The moment that has travelled furthest came at the very end. Substituted for Denzel Dumfries immediately after Espi’s winner, Diomande had to walk the long way round behind the Elche goal to reach the benches. Footage filmed from the stand and circulating widely on social media captures a section of home supporters aiming insults and gestures at him, including a jeer about his nationality, as reported by Mundo Deportivo.
His reply was to kiss the Real Madrid badge on his shirt, repeatedly, and keep walking. For a teenager signed for a fee reported in Spain at around 125 million euros plus add-ons – a price tag he had no say in and is judged against every week – it was a considerable piece of composure.
What it means for Vinicius Junior
The tactical detail Madridistas seized on is where he did his best work. Diomande started on the right, where Jose Mourinho has usually preferred Brahim Diaz, but moved to the left after Vinicius Junior was withdrawn on 67 minutes – and the match began to flow down that side.
The timing is awkward for Vinicius. He has one goal this season, his worst scoring start since 2019, and after another blank at Elche he offered his own verdict: “The goals will come back, I cannot miss so many.” Sections of the support are now openly asking for him to be rested, with Diomande the obvious replacement – a debate that has been building since Mourinho defended him from the Bernabeu whistles after Rayo.
That is the supporters’ argument, not the manager’s. Mourinho has been open about Vinicius being short of his level while insisting publicly that his confidence in the Brazilian is undiminished, and nothing coming out of Valdebebas suggests he intends to drop him, least of all for a derby.
Does he start at the Metropolitano?
Probably not. Marca’s reading is that Diomande goes into Sunday’s derby at Atletico Madrid with heavier legs than his rivals precisely because he played 92 minutes in Elche, and Brahim remains Mourinho’s habitual pick on the right for the big occasions.
The wider point survives that selection, though. A few weeks ago Diomande was a substitute being taught what his manager wanted from him without the ball; now he is the winger Madrid look for when a match needs breaking open. That progression has come faster than the club’s careful handling of him suggested it would, and it leaves Mourinho with a genuinely good problem ahead of a run of fixtures in which Real Madrid will need somebody to beat a man.
