Yan Diomande strengthened his case for a regular role at Real Madrid with another outstanding display on Wednesday, scoring twice from the bench in a 4-1 Champions League victory over his former club Leipzig.

The 19-year-old Ivory Coast international, who has 17 caps and three goals for his country, was introduced in the 70th minute and needed little more than a quarter of an hour to make a decisive impact.

He first set up Kylian Mbappe in the 83rd minute before completing the scoring three minutes later, meeting a cross from Brahim Diaz and finishing under the crossbar.

Diomande now has six attacking contributions in his past four matches, with three goals and three assists.

His latest performance came just days after he scored a spectacular long-range effort in the top corner during Real Madrid’s 4-1 La Liga win over Sevilla on 18 October.

The former Leipzig player has also continued to make history. He became the first player aged under 20 to score and provide an assist in a La Liga match for Real Madrid in the 21st century.

Against Leipzig, he became the youngest substitute in the club’s history to score and create a goal in a Champions League match. According to Opta, he is also the youngest African player to produce that combination in the competition since Nigeria’s Obafemi Martins did so for Inter Milan against Arsenal in September 2003.

Diomande wins over Madrid

Diomande’s early performances had attracted criticism, but the Ivory Coast forward is now steadily justifying the club-record transfer fee of 140m euros, including bonuses.

His rapid progress has also changed the mood among the Madrid press. Tomas Roncero, a journalist for AS, issued a warning to Vinicius Junior, who has increasingly found himself in Diomande’s shadow.

“Vini, you know that I love you very much, but Diomande is breaking down the door,” Roncero said.

The teenager’s growing partnership with Mbappe has also been warmly received on social media, underlining how quickly he has settled into the Real Madrid squad.

After the match, Mbappe tried to hand Diomande his man-of-the-match award, but the youngster politely declined. Later, the France captain left an affectionate message beneath an Instagram post showing him lifting Diomande after his goal.

“My good little one,” Mbappe wrote.

The emerging connection between the two forwards, both on and off the pitch, comes at an important moment for Real Madrid, with Sunday’s Clasico against Barcelona next on the schedule.