J. Rothen: Y. Diomande is two steps ahead of Vinicius

2026-11-03 18:20 © scanpix

Former PSG winger Jérôme Rothen believes that Vinícius has lost his place in Real Madrid’s starting lineup, while Yan Diomandé took advantage of the Brazilian’s suspension and established himself in the team.

"What happened as a result of Vinícius’s suspension turned out to be a kind of unexpected blessing for Real Madrid,” explained the former France international.

"First of all, because Diomandé reclaimed his favorite position on the left wing.

Now he is confident that he will regularly get playing time in La Liga and feels the trust of coach José Mourinho, which he lacked at the start of the season.

He is now a completely different Diomandé from the one we saw in the opening matches, when he often made mistakes.

In possession, the African is capable of moving into the center of the pitch, improving the performances of Aurélien Tchouaméni and Bernardo Silva, and providing the team with a great deal of benefit. His ability to cover a lot of ground is particularly important. He covers enormous distances on the pitch.

When Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius played together, the team had two footballers who put in less effort defensively.

Now this problem has eased because Mbappé has also started working harder for the benefit of the team.

In my opinion, Vinícius has definitely lost his place in the starting lineup,” stated Rothen.