Real Madrid beat Leipzig 1-0 in the first leg of the Champions League round-of-16 tie and now go back to the Santiago Bernabeu in March with a narrow lead. A brilliant, brilliant solo goal from Brahim Diaz was enough for Real Madrid to scrape past a really good Leipzig side.
Here are three quick observations.
Brahim Diaz, a phenom
If there was one thing that was certain during the game vs Leipzig, it was that Brahim Diaz legitimately couldn’t do anything wrong even if he tried. We saw him light up the stadium, moving unpredictably and getting reactions out of even the home fans. He was so good, and easily had his best game of the season when it was needed the most. Brahim was a phenom, with nine shot-creating actions (season-high), two goal-creating actions, six out of nine take-ons completed (season-high), seven progressive passes (season-high), four key passes, and the really important goal that Real Madrid take back to the Bernabeu.
He was tasked to replace Jude Bellingham, and he did it the best way he could’ve done it in, churning in the best performance I’ve seen from him since his return to Real Madrid.
Unfortunately Brahim did get injured in the 83rd minute when he was subbed off for Joselu. but luckily it’s not as bad as initially expected.
Nacho’s unreliability
Nacho used to be one of the most reliable players in the entire squad. It had been the case for almost an entire decade: He was almost always available, always ready and always could be counted upon. The last bit has taken a drastic change now, and it happens to be in the same season when he becomes the captain of this club. The timing is odd, to say the least.
I will always love Nacho for what he has done for the club, what he sacrificed for the team and how he was always ready whenever called upon. But I do feel like it’s been his most disappointing season as a footballer. Once again, against Leipzig, his positioning, passing, decision-making and awareness were pretty bad. I keep expecting to see a great Nacho performance in one of these games – because the team needs it so badly – but it doesn’t happen.
It could’ve been a bloodbath because of the space left between Nacho and Ferland Mendy, if it wasn’t for Camavinga’s last-ditch interventions, Tchouameni’s brilliant performance or Andriy Lunin’s best Thibaut Courtois impression. Nacho did not contribute a lot to the win, and questions must be asked about whether he is the right man to start along with Antonio Rudiger in the next most important game of the season.
Heroes in defense
Two players who really impressed me against Leipzig were Andriy Lunin and Aurelien Tchouameni. Let’s talk about the former first.
Simply put, this was by far Lunin’s best performance as a football player, ever. I’m sure you saw the stat about the Ukrainian being the second Real Madrid player (after Courtois) since 2003-04 to have nine or more saves in a Champions League game.
If it was Kepa Arizzabalaga starting in place of Lunin, I really think Real Madrid would’ve lost. Lunin’s performances this season have earned him a deserved starting place in the squad – something I think Ancelotti has now accepted as well, with Lunin starting a bigger chunk of games over Kepa. It has also given Real Madrid a huge reason to offer him an extension.
Whether he accepts it is another decision, but he deserves an offer, at the very least, after his (mostly) brilliant performances this season.
On Tchouameni, I really think he’s undroppable, even though he has a replacement in the squad that can play that center-back role. It’s not just how good he is, it’s also how smart and intelligent he is, and how he has helped the team by playing at centre-back.
Tchouameni was an absolute rock against Leipzig, his athleticism and IQ let him play at centre-back at a very high level, and it is something you have to take notice of because it’s not easy to transition from playing as a defensive midfielder to a centre-back, even less so with a team like Real Madrid. Tchouameni is undroppable, now and in the future. If you sign another attacker and put one of the midfielders on the bench, it better not be Tchouameni. No one provides what he provides.