Bernardo Silva scored his first Real Madrid goal late in the first half to give Jose Mourinho’s men the lead in their Champions League clash with RB Leipzig.

Madrid entered Wednesday’s clash at the Santiago Bernabeu on a run of three successive wins and aiming to maintain that momentum ahead of Sunday’s Clasico with Barcelona.

But they struggled to dictate proceedings against their Bundesliga opposition, who had opportunities to score through Romulo Cardoso and Christopher Nkunku.

Madrid had Thibaut Courtois to thank for denying both Cardoso and Nkunku, and Silva made Leipzig pay for failing to take those chances.

Silva joined Madrid from Manchester City in the summer but has played a peripheral role for Los Blancos so far.

However, he was named in the starting XI against Leipzig and reacted quickest to break the deadlock after goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt failed to deal with Arda Guler’s low strike.

Vandevoordt got contact on the shot but succeeded only in slowing it down as it squirmed through his legs, with Silva on hand to tap in from point-blank range.