The knee starts. The €146m winger starts. Vinícius doesn't.

All week the Mbappé question was the knee. Mourinho answered it on Friday: "He will play, he won't be on the bench." Today he named him up front against Villarreal. The decision nobody led with was on the left. Vinícius is a substitute. Yan Diomande, signed from Leipzig this summer for a reported €146m, takes his wing.

The knock is the one Mbappé picked up in France's 1-0 win over Türkiye on 25 September. He leads Madrid in league goals (7) and shots (22), per LaLiga's match centre.

The graph line is minutes, not mood. Trent starts and Dumfries sits, after the break gave Trent 180 minutes and Dumfries 350, AS reports. Carreras comes in so Cucurella can rest. Valverde goes straight back into midfield after the ankle sprain he picked up in the derby. Madrid rested the legs the break used most and kept the knee the whole country was asking about.

The channels saw the left wing coming. Iñaki Angulo claimed on his channel on 6 October that the message to Mourinho was that Diomande "has to play more", which meant dropping Güler or Vinícius (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfbXvHCovGw). Siro López's channel put the question in its 8 October title: Vinícius or Diomande? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhr5XLU57NA). Mourinho dropped Vinícius, not Güler.

Camp Nou is 15 days away. Tonight Mourinho showed what his left wing looks like without Vinícius.

See what others miss.

— Jet Callen / THE GRAPHS