Yan Diomandé has the stronger case right now to start on Real Madrid's left. Anyone who watched him take Sevilla apart and still disagrees is arguing with a scoreboard. He set up the opener and scored the fourth himself, a 19-year-old doing that in a 4-1 win the week before a Clásico.
But the hype needs a correction. Diomandé hasn't beaten Vinícius in a straight fight; Vinícius wasn't even on the field to lose it. He's serving a suspension from the red card he picked up against Villarreal. Madrid didn't push him out of the lineup. He put himself there with that sending-off.
Arda Güler put Madrid ahead in the 30th minute with a left-footed strike from the edge of the box, set up by a Diomandé cross on the counter. Kylian Mbappé made it two before the break, then added a Panenka penalty after it. He was the best player on the pitch. Manu Bueno pulled one back for Sevilla, and Diomandé answered with a curling right-footed shot from outside the area into the top corner, restoring the four-goal cushion. A goal and an assist from a teenager filling in for a superstar. That's a real audition.
The case for patience isn't stupid. A few bright starts don't wipe out years of what Vinícius has given this club. You don't sell a player of that level off three good weeks from the kid behind him, and anyone demanding Madrid pack him off to Saudi Arabia by morning is letting a good mood drive a bad decision.
Diomandé has made it impossible for Mourinho to simply hand the shirt back to Vinícius on reputation once the ban ends. He can't quietly pencil Vinícius back in like these weeks didn't happen, not with the team playing well and the stand-in delivering performances like this one. The Clásico is Diomandé's stage next. If he does there what he did to Sevilla, there's no debate left.
Point the finger where it belongs. Vinícius got himself sent off and opened the door, and a 19-year-old walked through it and started rearranging the furniture. When the suspension's up, the shirt shouldn't be sitting there waiting. He should have to win it back.
