Real Madrid squared off against Racing Santander in La Liga for the first time in 14 years, walking away with a routine 3-0 win, extending their winning streak to six games since returning from the international break. Los Blancos somewhat let up off the gas pedal in the second half; however first-half goals from Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, and Yan Diomande secured all three points for Jose Mourinho and his men.
Despite the win being fairly comfortable in the end, there are still a number of questions that come with the result, with these being three burning questions from Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Racing Santander.
1. Has Jose Mourinho finally found his best XI?
Jose Mourinho's starting XI against Racing Santander was nearly identical to what the manager has been using since the return from the international break, the only exception being Trent Alexander-Arnold starting at right-back over an injured Fede Valverde. It was once again a strong all-around team performance, and it looks like Mourinho has finally found his preferred starting lineup. Every player knows their role and executes it without any complaints, with the team looking stronger and more unified with every game.
After struggling through the first few games of the season, Mourinho has finally found a perfect balance in his lineup, with the defense, midfield, and attack all complementing one another, with Huijsen and Konate looking strong as a partnership, Tchouameni and Bernardo Silva as a duo finally bringing some stability back to the midfield, and an attacking quartet of Diomande, Bellingham, Guler, and Mbappe all playing together with unity that we haven't seen from the attack over the last few seasons, which leads into our next question:
2. Has Yan Diomande officially snatched Vinicius Junior's chain?
Real Madrid's win over Racing Santander was the third of four games without Vinicius Junior following his red card suspension, and it was once again a strong performance from the team as a whole, but it was yet another strong performance from his replacement, Yan Diomande.
The Ivorian looks at home on the left-wing, scoring yet another sensational goal with an outside-the-box volley, bringing his total to three goals and two assists since Vinicius Junior got suspended. Those are better numbers than the Brazilian has managed all season, bringing into question how Vinicius manages to get back into the team once his suspension is up.
It's a big enough sample size to say that Real Madrid are better with Diomande than they do with Vinicius, playing more unified and more like a team rather than just 11 players in the same jersey, and it's not worth sacrificing team unity to fit Vinicius back in. Diomande has earned the starting left-wing role and has already snatched Vini's chain after just a few games.
3. What's next for Real Madrid?
While some might say it's an overreaction, Real Madrid are looking like a threat. Six wins from six since returning from the international break, Mbappe firing on all cylinders, Bellingham looking back to his best form, and the team looking more unified than we've seen in recent years. Los Blancos look like they're a force to be reckoned with. Real are only three points off league leaders Barcelona and sit fourth in the Champions League table, with silverware very much within reach for Real Madrid.
They will have to keep this form up, which is the hard part. But they've shown that they can dig in and pull out a result when needed, so what's next for Real Madrid? No one really knows, but silverware is looking very realistic this season.
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