(Football news) When the players stepped out onto the Bernabéu pitch for Sunday’s Madrid Derby, Brahim Díaz had only just found out that he’d be starting. Carlo Ancelotti’s initial team sheet had Rodrygo and Vinícius up front for Real Madrid, but the latter suffered an injury during the warm-ups. It then appeared as if Joselu would start in the Brazilian’s place, and the striker was even announced as the replacement inside the stadium, but at the last minute it was Brahim Díaz who was called into the starting line-up.

Although fans and journalists might have been confused, Brahim Díaz was ready. “It’s true that Joselu was the one warming up, but in the end the coach decided I should go in,” he explained afterwards. “Brahim Díaz always makes you feel like you’re prepared because when it’s your turn you have to perform well.”

And, perform well is exactly what Brahim Díaz did. From the beginning the winger was dribbling his way past defenders, showcasing his technical skills. Then, in the 20th minute of the match, the 24-year-old pounced on a loose ball in the penalty area and kept his balance and his cool to nudge the ball past Jan Oblak for the opening goal.

Into the second half, Brahim Díaz remained the driving force of Real Madrid’s attack, producing flicks, tricks and nutmegs and almost scoring what would have been a sublime second goal, just before he was substituted off. As Brahim walked across the pitch towards the bench, the Bernabéu crowd gave him the most enthusiastic of standing ovations.

Even though Atlético de Madrid scored a stoppage time equaliser via Marcos Llorente to draw this Madrid Derby 1-1, Brahim took the MVP award and it was thoroughly deserved. When you consider that he wasn’t even supposed to start the match, the performance was even more impressive.

When Brahim starts, he does usually deliver. After he returned to the club from AC Milan in the summer, he wasn’t given his first start by Ancelotti until late September in a LALIGA EA SPORTS match against UD Las Palmas. In that game, he seized the opportunity, scoring the opener in a 2-0 win.

As Brahim began to play more frequently and as he continued to play well, Ancelotti admitted in a press conference that “maybe I wasn’t fair with him”. The Italian pointed out that his best position was where Jude Bellingham had been playing and that the Englishman was rarely going to be left out of the line-up, but in the weeks and months since then the coach has trusted Brahim to play in various alternative positions, both in midfield and in attack and both centrally and out wide.

The stats show that when Brahim starts he tends to score. He has now netted seven goals across all competitions this season from 26 appearances, and six of those goals have come in the 11 games in which he started. As for his three assists, they all came in matches when he started too. Brahim isn’t a super sub. Rather, he’s a super starter. And, he’s making a stronger and stronger case for being given a chance from the off in big matches.

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