Real Madrid 4 RB Leipzig 1: Diomande's stunning volley and a comfortable night for Mourinho's men New York Times (Online) Dermot Corrigan Real Madrid made it three wins from three in the Champions League league phase with a comfortable win over RB Leipzig. Although Leipzig had lost six of their previous away league-phase matches coming into this game and had suffered a 6-1 thumping by Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga at the weekend, the visitors were more than a match for Madrid until Bernardo Silva put the hosts ahead in the 44th minute. A Romulo Cardoso strike which bounced in front of Thibaut Courtois left the Belgian goalkeeper with a difficult save to make to keep the score goalless. He was then called into action again when Christopher Nkunku took aim. Had it not been for Courtois, Madrid's porous midfield and defence could have been punished. But it was Madrid who took the advantage into the break. Arda Guler's shot went through Maarten Vandevoordt's legs, giving Silva a simple tap-in from two yards for his first goal for Madrid. Soon after the break, Madrid doubled their lead and the pressure eased on the home side. A delightful floated Jude Bellingham cross was headed towards goal by Kylian Mbappe, with Guler guiding it across the line with an outstretched leg from close range. In the latter stages, the game sprang to life once again as Mbappe made it three before Leipzig's Tidiam Gomis scored what was a consolation goal in the 85th minute. Shortly afterwards, substitute Yan Diomande's superb volley from distance concluded the scoring. Dermot Corrigan analyses the key talking points. Mourinho's biggest new idea to try and bring more order, balance and thrust to this team has been the combination of Guler and Fede Valverde down the right, a ploy which now looks certain to be used in Sunday's La Liga Clasico at the Camp Nou. Madrid's current 4-2-3-1 shape involves Guler drifting in from the right, with Valverde striding forward outside him from deep. That plan worked pretty well for Madrid's opening goal, with Mbappe spreading the ball wide to the Uruguayan, whose first-time cross picked out Guler for a shot which squirmed under Vandervoort to give Silva a simple finish. Early in the second half, Guler and Valverde linked again down the wing, with the Uruguayan flying forward into the box and firing a cross-shot which Vandervoort did well to push away for a corner. It was the Turkey international who did eventually get on the scoresheet — his freedom to come inside on display again as he was on hand to knock home from three yards after Mbappe headed back Bellingham's deep cross. Mourinho now looks set on this plan, which is bad news for the squad's other right-backs, Denzel Dumfries and Trent Alexander Arnold. The England international has now appeared in just one of Madrid's last five games — and in that game, against Villarreal in La Liga, he was hooked early in the second half, with Valverde moved into the position instead. An issue with the plan which may get exposed by Barcelona is that Valverde, who has spent most of his career in midfield, is not a natural defender. Many of Leipzig's moments of danger came when their Norwegian winger, Antonio Nusa, twice tricked his way past the Uruguayan, with centre-back Antonio Rudiger required to come across and cover. Barcelona could target this area, with in-form Anthony Gordon likely to start on the left-wing, and 'false nine' Raphinha also an expert at exploiting space in that area. Every game at the Bernabeu at this point seems like a referendum on Vinicius Jr, especially so in this match given this was his first showing since Mourinho had substituted him in Madrid's last Champions League game with Roma 3-1 up before Madrid came back thrillingly to win 4-3 without him. The Brazilian seemed low on confidence early on, turning down opportunities to attempt to dribble past Leipzig defenders, and being back on his heels when Mbappe sent an inviting ball across to where he might have been at the back post. Another promising Madrid counter-attack saw Vinicius carry the ball deep into the Leipzig half, but instead of trying to take on his man he went for a pass to Bellingham, which was easily intercepted. Some in the Bernabeu grumbled in frustration, others then offered supportive applause. There were some cheers for the forward when he chased back and got a tackle in to stop a promising Leipzig attack, although Mourinho will also have spotted how Leipzig right-back Ridle Baku was twice able to run free up the pitch to set off moves which ended in Courtois having to make two of his customary top saves to keep the score at 0-0. Vinicius did get Madrid's first shot on goal with 28 minutes played, driving forward with the ball on the break, cutting inside and firing off a trademark 20-yard shot which was beaten away by Vandevoordt. After the break, he was again pretty quiet, with much of the most dangerous action happening on the other side of the Madrid attack. Mourinho took him off with 20 minutes remaining, which was perhaps a surprise given he sits out the weekend's Clasico at Barcelona due to his current four-game suspension in the league. Valverde moving out of midfield opens up a spot in central midfield, and in this game Bernardo Silva put his hand up for a starting spot on Sunday. The former Manchester City man made his first start since mid-September, with Mourinho making changes to his midfield as he tries to find the right formula. With partner Eduardo Camavinga sitting deeper, Silva had license to get on the ball and construct moves from the centre of the park. Madrid's build-up play was not particularly fluid, but he did take the opportunity to get forward and looked to make things happen around the Leipzig box. This almost worked in the opening stages, with Guler putting in a cross which Silva tried, and failed, to backheel to the net from inside the six-yard box. It did work for the opener, however, with the Portuguese being in the right place at the right time to knock home his 18th Champions League goal. Silva will know Madrid's coach requires a lot of hard work and defensive contributions from his midfielders, and he was busy off the ball too, snapping into tackles to disrupt Leipzig attacks. Whether Mourinho sticks with Silva as one of his deep midfield two for the Clasico remains to be seen. Aurelien Tchouameni is sure to come back into the side having been rested, and Camavinga did not do much to earn a starting spot. Jude Bellingham was pretty quiet, one vicious 25 yarder which almost found the top corner aside, but he is sure to keep his place at number 10 for the weekend. We will bring you this after he has spoken at his post-match press conference. Sunday, October 25 : Barcelona (away), La Liga, 8pm UK, 4pm ET