"The most expensive signing pulls the immunity": Doumbia destroys Vinicius's throne in Madrid

Vinícius's four-match domestic suspension after his sending-off against Villarreal was less a problem for the Spanish giants than a tactical breather, a warrior's rest forced by circumstance. It spared Portuguese coach José Mourinho the awkwardness of benching his star man.

Asked whether Vinícius was untouchable, Mourinho answered decisively, stripping the Brazilian of his historic immunity: "The only thing that is untouchable at this club is the badge. I do not like the concept of the untouchable player. What makes a player untouchable is his performance and his impact on the pitch, nothing else."

He proved the point. Vinícius played six consecutive matches without finishing any of them to the 90th minute.

The club's record signing, Ivorian Yan Diomande, has gone the other way entirely. Once a bet on the future, he is now Mourinho's tactical saviour, the man conjuring the magical solutions that have built a clear superiority at Vinicius's expense. The numbers back him up: seven more successful dribbles than the Brazilian, and in far fewer matches. He capped the Leipzig game with an out-of-this-world rocket that rubbed salt into the wounds of a Brazilian stuck on the bench.

Diomande's impact runs deeper than attacking brilliance, though. He has fixed a structural flaw that plagued Madrid for years with Vinicius. The left flank was dangerously exposed whenever Vinicius lined up alongside Kylian Mbappe, the pair offering next to nothing defensively together.

Ahead of the Clasico, Diomande has become Mourinho's lifeline. The player throws himself into the defensive graft, wins the ball back again and again, and tracks dutifully to cover the space behind his full-back.

That balance has handed Mourinho the freedom to reshape his front line. Diomande takes the left wing and Federico Valverde the right, opening the space for Arda Guler to operate alongside Aurelien Tchouameni in midfield.

So Real Madrid go into the Clasico with a balanced plan built around Diomande, while Vinicius watches from the stands through suspension. It could be the night that formally ushers in a new era, one where the time of the untouchable player comes to an end.

Diomande's numbers tell a different story to the Brazilian's extended goalscoring drought, and the statistical comparison is stark. Vinicius went weeks without scoring or creating a single goal. Diomande, meanwhile, exploded into life as the most decisive figure in Jose Mourinho's system:

Against Sevilla, Diomande produced something special. One goal, three assists, all in a single night. He made the difference on his own.

At Villarreal, the Ivorian kept his impact going with a wonderful goal that tipped the scales in the royal side's favour before Vinicius was sent off.

Leipzig brought more. Coming on in the 70th minute for Vinicius himself, he unleashed an out-of-this-world rocket for the fourth goal, cementing his superiority in both scoring and creating. In the very match the Brazilian left with zero dribbling attempts.

Add it all up and Diomande has 3 goals and 4 assists since the start of the season. Vinicius has a solitary goal and 3 assists, despite playing clearly more minutes than Diomande.