Fourteen months ago Yan Diomande was a Leganes winger that RB Leipzig picked up for around 20 million euros. On Wednesday 21 October he plays at the Santiago Bernabeu in a Real Madrid shirt, against the club that made him one of the most wanted players in Europe and then sold him for a fortune. Real Madrid vs Leipzig is a big night on Matchday 3 for both clubs, and a strange one for him.
One season, one enormous fee
Diomande spent a single season in Saxony, and that was all it took. PSG were close to signing him during the World Cup before Madrid stepped in. The deal was announced on 6 August, reported at 125 million euros up front and rising to about 140 million with add-ons, a club record, and he's tied to Madrid until 2033.
Leipzig made a huge profit. They also lost one of their most dangerous attackers, and now they have to stop him.
He had to wait for his first goal. It came on 10 October, the only goal of a 1-0 win over Villarreal, and the timing helped Jose Mourinho, whose side had just lost the derby. It wasn't a tidy win (Vinicius Junior was sent off late on), but Diomande goes into this one as a scorer.
Mourinho's Madrid so far
Mourinho came back to the Bernabeu in June, and his second spell has been good without being perfect. Madrid are fourth in La Liga with 18 points from eight games: six wins and two defeats, both away, 1-0 at Real Betis in early September and 2-1 at Atletico Madrid, where Dean Huijsen was sent off.
Kylian Mbappe has carried the attack, with seven league goals already, a hat-trick against Real Sociedad among them. In Europe, Madrid opened with a 2-1 win over Inter, Mbappe and Federico Valverde scoring before Carlos Augusto replied. At home they've won every competitive game this season.
The schedule is brutal. Madrid go to Roma on Wednesday 14 October, back to the Stadio Olimpico for Mourinho, and El Clasico against Barcelona comes on 25 October, four days after Leipzig visit.
Santiago Bernabeu. Photo: MottaW, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Real Madrid
RB LeipzigKick-off is 21:00 in Madrid and Leipzig, 20:00 in the UK and 3pm ET in the US.
Leipzig under Demichelis: great fun, until it isn't
Martin Demichelis took over in the summer wanting to press high, and the results have swung from thrilling to alarming. Leipzig are fifth in the Bundesliga with nine points from five matches. They thrashed Hamburg 5-0 and Eintracht Frankfurt 6-0 at home, and lost at Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen.
Europe started with a shock. Como, playing their first ever European match, beat Leipzig 4-1 at the Sinigaglia on 10 September. On Tuesday night Leipzig answered with a 1-0 win over PSV, decided by Brajan Gruda on 75 minutes in his first start after an abdominal injury, and Maarten Vandevoordt saved an early Ivan Perisic penalty. Christopher Nkunku, back on loan from AC Milan, leads their league scoring with four goals.
They visit Bayern Munich on Saturday before flying to Spain. Two big away trips in five days is a lot to ask of a pressing team.
Real MadridRB LeipzigLeipzig were without Christoph Baumgartner (thigh), Assan Ouedraogo (shoulder) and Marc Guiu (muscle) against PSV, and Rocco Reitz is working back from a thigh injury. Madrid's list will be clearer after Rome. Previews of that game had Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy, Rodrygo and Raul Asencio unavailable. Huijsen has served his domestic ban, and Vinicius's red card came in La Liga, so it doesn't carry into the Champions League.
Four meetings, and Leipzig have never won in Madrid
This is the fifth competitive meeting. Madrid won 2-0 at home in September 2022, then Leipzig had their best night against them, a 3-2 win in Germany that October. In the 2024 round of 16, a brilliant Brahim Diaz goal won the first leg 1-0 in Leipzig, and Vinicius and Willi Orban traded goals in a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu on 6 March, sending Madrid through 2-1 on aggregate. That makes it two wins for Madrid, one for Leipzig and a draw.
Real Madrid vs Leipzig prediction
Leipzig will press, and they have the pace to hurt Madrid on the break. Against Mbappe in this kind of form that's a risky way to play. Add the Bernabeu, Madrid's perfect home record and whatever Leipzig have left in their legs after Munich, and I'd make Madrid clear favourites. Leipzig have scored against them before and probably will again. I'll say Real Madrid 3-1 Leipzig, ideally with Diomande involved against the club that sold him, because football likes that sort of thing.
The game will be free on our Champions League live streams page, and Madrid fans can also use the Real Madrid live stream page, with Spanish versions at ver Real Madrid en vivo and Champions League en vivo. League games for both sides are on the La Liga streams and Bundesliga streams hubs.
The other Spanish game that night is in Seville, and our Betis vs Feyenoord preview covers it. For Tuesday's big one, see PSG vs Barcelona.
