Real Madrid routs Leipzig and drops hints for the Clasico: Valverde locks down right back, Diomande increasingly undroppable

Four goals against Leipzig, twelve in a week, and a question hanging over the Bernabeu: does any of this matter for Sunday's Clasico? According to Kylian Mbappe, not much. "It's completely different. We've only thought about tonight's game. The team hasn't thought about Sunday yet," he told Movistar moments after the final whistle on Wednesday in the Champions League.

And yet, watching how Real Madrid dismantled Leipzig in the second half, with goals from Arda Guler, Mbappe and Yan Diomande arriving after Bernardo Silva's early opener, it's impossible not to think about what it means heading to Camp Nou.

There are questions hanging in the air. Is Federico Valverde now the starting right back, ahead of specialists like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Denzel Dumfries? Will Jose Mourinho dare to use Guler as a central midfielder, or will he keep him out wide? And is Diomande already undroppable, after following up a stunning goal against Sevilla on Sunday with another, even better one, coming off the bench?

"I've been here 105 days, that's not a lot," Mourinho explained after the match. "I need to get to know the players, and the best place to do that is on the pitch, competing."

Weeks earlier, the coach had been blunt about Valverde's role. "He can play there, it's happened before, but for me he's a midfielder," he said in August. Wednesday's match, Valverde's second straight start at right back, told a different story. There was one uncomfortable moment, when winger Antonio Nusa beat him for pace early on, but after that he barely put a foot wrong. Over 90 minutes he had more touches than anyone else on the pitch, 115, and the second most completed passes, behind only Dean Huijsen.

Going forward he created three clear chances, with three key passes, including the cross that led to Silva's goal off a rebound from Guler's shot. At the back, nobody made more defensive actions than him: 12, to Huijsen's 11. Valverde was everywhere, and after a performance like that it's hard to picture him anywhere but right back against Barcelona.

Guler, increasingly decisive

The only player to match Valverde's influence on the pitch was Guler himself. In just a week, across matches against Roma, Sevilla and Leipzig, the Turkish international has racked up two goals and two assists. Against the German side he played on the right and finished with 27 passes into the final third, just one more than Valverde.

The question for Sunday is whether he stays out there or moves back into the middle, in a more attacking setup that might not fit Mourinho's usual style. "They played well on the right side. Those are good solutions," the coach said, summing up the Valverde-Guler partnership.

Then there's Bernardo Silva, who has had few minutes this season and earned that goal for his confidence after showing his ability to link play and find space. The sense is he'll be back on the bench Sunday, even though both he and Guler make the team better.

It's that balance between having the ball and controlling the game, and also being an intense team. It's difficult. I'm ready to help the team, whether it's five minutes, ten minutes or 90.Bernardo Silva

And then there's Diomande. At the start of the season, the young winger's minutes were carefully managed, with Mourinho easing in the club's most expensive signing. Since the international break he's racked up three goals and three assists, and Wednesday's was the best of them all: a volley off a Brahim Diaz cross that nestled effortlessly into the corner.

"He has a lot to improve. He's young, still naive, he's a work in progress. At Real Madrid the demands are high... He reminds me of Vinicius when he arrived," Mourinho had said about him this week.

Diomande is answering those demands, and the contrast with Vinicius is clear. The Brazilian was effectively replaced by him in the 70th minute after another game without making a difference. Vinicius, in fact, won't be in the Clasico due to his domestic suspension.

Bringing on Diomande wasn't about the Clasico, it was about this match. I knew a fresh Diomande, coming on with half an hour left, is hard to stop, his speed matters. For me, Vini had a good game, he could have scored a great goal and the goalkeeper made a great save. I wouldn't say he's sad, that's something only he can explain, but his coach is happy.Jose Mourinho

The rest of the match confirmed things that were already known: Mbappe is on a run, with four goals in a week, and Thibaut Courtois remains probably the team's most consistent player. "The only thing I didn't like was Leipzig's goal, which Courtois didn't deserve. When you make two saves like the ones he made at 0-0, you don't deserve your teammates ruining it," Mourinho noted.

The result left Real Madrid with 12 goals scored in a week: 4-3 in Rome, 4-1 against Sevilla and 4-1 against Leipzig. There's firepower up front, and Courtois in goal. If there are doubts, they lie elsewhere, especially in midfield.

"For the Clasico, confidence doesn't exist on a scale of one to ten," Mourinho concluded. "To say it's a match like any other would be a lie."