Carlo Ancelotti explains Kylian Mbappe position switch with Vinicius Junior in easy Real Madrid win | OneFootball

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti made the bold call of starting Kylian Mbappe on the left wing for Sunday's trip to Leganes, shifting Ballon d'Or runner-up Vinicius Junior into an unnatural centre-forward role.

The summer arrival from Paris Saint-Germain has struggled to settle in the Spanish capital, racking up eight goals over his first 16 appearances for the club while awkwardly shoehorned into a central role. Mbappe was left out of France's squad for the November international break despite being fully fit.

Ancelotti insisted that the Frenchman never asked for a specific position in the team, but moved the new recruit to the left wing spot which he occupied with such success for PSG. From this familiar role, Mbappe opened the scoring in Madrid's 3-0 win, finishing off a chance created by Vinicius.

"It was a good performance from start to finish," Ancelotti told Real Madrid's official website after the easy win. "The team was solid and focused. We changed the position of the two forwards a bit: Mbappe on the outside and Vini Jr on the inside. They did well. Vini Jr set him up to open the scoring."

Kylian Mbappe was in full flow against Leganes / Diego Souto/GettyImages

Mbappe had the ball in the back of Leganes' net after a pass from Vinicius inside the opening ten minutes. An offside flag ruled out that early strike, but there was nothing illegal about the forward's 43rd-minute opener.

Vinicius latched on to a loose ball on the edge of Leganes' box, darting between two converging defenders as though he was jumping between a pair of closing lift doors. Faced with just the goalkeeper, the Brazilian selflessly rolled a square pass for Mbappe to break a month-long goal drought.

"He's more used to playing on the left," Ancelotti said of Mbappe, who was well rested after a two-week break from league football. "Playing on the outside is more tiring than through the middle. Vini Jr returned from international duty on Thursday and Mbappe was fresher than Vini Jr. He scored a goal with a fantastic assist from Vini Jr. They're both improving bit by bit."

While Rodrygo continues to recover from injury, Arda Guler - the forward linked with a move to Arsenal - completed a reshaped front three. The young Turkey international teed up Madrid's second goal, which was scored by Federico Valverde, who had to fill in at right-back amid the club's defensive injury crisis.

Jude Bellingham rounded off a straightforward victory with his second goal in as many appearances following a 4-0 thrashing of Osasuna at the start of the month.

While Madrid have earned back-to-back wins, Barcelona boast just one point from their previous two fixtures. The Catalan giants remain top of La Liga, but Ancelotti's side have closed the gap to four points and have a game in hand.

"The positive feelings we had against Osasuna were backed up today," Madrid's manager beamed after a successful tactical experiment. "We are much more compact and focused. Things are going well."