Ed DoveFeb 10, 2026, 07:10 AM
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There's nothing Brahim Díaz can do... probably ever... to make up for what that penalty miss in the Africa Cup of Nations final with Morocco, but since his return to Real Madrid he's finding solid footing again.
His feeble panenka penalty in the 123rd minute of stoppage time was held by Édouard Mendy, denying Morocco the chance to end their 50-year wait for an Africa Cup of Nations title with a glittering crowning on home soil.
Diaz appeared to crumple, with the chaos ongoing around him, and was replaced by Walid Regragui soon after that horror miss where the line between national hero and national pariah was never so fine.
Upon returning to Real Madrid after the competition, certainly carrying the bruises of the AFCON with him, it was imperative, for Diaz's mental well-being as much as anything else, that the forward returned to form promptly and allowed his football to do the talking.
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In his last two matches for Los Blancos, he's registered two assists and provoked the decisive penalty to secure a late victory against Rayo Vallecano on February 1.
David Beckham in 1998 and Lionel Messi in 2016 both answered the critics at club level after high-profile failures at international tournaments, while Diaz's Real teammate Kylian Mbappé knows only too well how solace and escape can be found back in familiar surroundings after a major competition didn't go to plan.
In 2021, it was Mbappe's missed penalty against Switzerland that cost France a place in the Euro 2020 quarterfinal, but the forward responded with his then-best career haul of 28 Ligue 1 goals for Paris Saint-Germain, helping them to wrest the title back from LOSC Lille in the process.
Now, it's Diaz's turn, and while he doesn't have the same status at Real as Beckham, Messi or Mbappe did when they returned to Manchester United, Barcelona and PSG respectively, he's at least letting his feet do the talking.
Against Rayo, Diaz played 80 minutes after being introduced 10 minutes in following an injury to Jude Bellingham. It was the first time since early November, against the same opponents, that he's played more than 23 minutes in a match for Real.
Brahim Diaz, Kylian Mbappe, and Alvaro Carreras celebrate Real Madrid's goal against Valencia. Maciej Rogowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Bellingham's injury was yet another setback for Los Merengues during this testing season, with new head coach Alvaro Arbeloa already without Éder Militão, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Antonio Rüdiger as they look to keep pace with Barcelona.
Yet Diaz stepped up, replacing Bellingham in something of a surprise move, and required just five minutes to make a critical intervention, setting up Vinicius Jr for the opener five minutes after his introduction as he picked out the Brazilian, advancing down the left, who promptly thundered home with aplomb after a fine dribble.
Yet this unbalanced Real side laboured, with Jorge de Frutos registering an equaliser early in the second half, as Diaz -- asking to operate in an unfamiliar role -- and his fellow midfielders initially struggling to control the contest in the heart of the park.
Another extended stoppage time, and another key Diaz intervention, however, as the forward was brought down by Senegalese defender Nobel Mendy in the 98th minute, and Mbappe duly stepped up to convert the spotkick beyond Augusto Batalla.
Despite his fine showing against Rayo and Bellingham's ongoing absence, the Morocco international was back on the bench for Sunday's trip to Valencia, with Real under pressure to secure maximum points after Barcelona's victory over Real Mallorca on Saturday.
Here, again, Diaz made the most of the opportunity.
Real were already ahead through Álvaro Carreras when he entered for Gonzalo García in the 76th minute, although by this point, Valencia were increasingly getting close to an equaliser, with Lucas Beltrán hitting the woodwork minutes before the 26-year-old's arrival.
He required little time to make a decisive impact, taking control of the ball in a left channel, on the edge of the Valencia box, before snapping a sharp cross over to advancing Mbappe, who opened his body and touched home beyond Stole Dimitrievski to kill off any hopes of a comeback from the hosts, and secure all three points for Arbeloa's side.
Diaz's assist also helped Mbappe extend his magnificent goalscoring run of form, with the France international now having netted in each of his last eight starts for the capital club.
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This is the first time since May 2024 that Diaz, who signed for Real from Manchester City in 2019, directly contributed to a goal in consecutive La Liga matches, with the attacker replicating his AFCON ability of stepping up to make the difference when his team aren't functioning at their apex.
His relationship and understanding with Mbappe has also shone through in the recent opportunities the pair have had to play together. The Ballon d'Or winner, after all, came to watch Diaz and his fellow Morocco teammates in action during the Nations Cup, wearing the Atlas Lions jersey while cheering on his club mate during their run to the final.
Mbappe also very publicly offered his support for Diaz in the 2-0 victory over Villarreal -- Diaz's first match back after the Nations Cup -- when he scored with a panenka penalty before running over to celebrate with his teammate.
Embracing Diaz, Mbappe told his beleaguered friend that the converted spotkick was "for you, for you", before later telling Marca that his choice to emulate Diaz's panenka was deliberate 'support' for his teammate.
It's the kind of public support from such a prominent player that surely will have helped Diaz begin to get over his AFCON final heartbreak, even if some -- including Senegal's title winner Iliman Ndiaye -- appear unwilling to let him forget throwing it away on the grandest stage.
"It just felt like a kind of disrespect a little bit," Everton's Ndiaye told The Times. "I'm not saying maybe he wanted to disrespect us, but it's either that or he wanted to be like a star after everything that had just happened.
"I don't know if I would try it or not, but you're minutes away from becoming a king in your country," he added. "They hadn't won it for so many years and you just had to put it in and score the goal, so, I don't get why he did that, but I'm happy he did. I think we just knew after that that we would win."
While Diaz will be able to look forward to a World Cup with Morocco where, if selected, he will have an opportunity to continue his redemption arc, his longer-term club future appears uncertain.
He is yet to establish himself as a starter at Real since his arrival -- he's only made three league starts this season -- with reports in Spain suggesting that the Malaga-born attacker has recently been piquing the interest of Premier League Bournemouth, among others.
His AFCON performances, if not his Real form, will doubtless have alerted other clubs to Diaz's enduring qualities, despite his bit-part role at the Bernabeu, and as he seeks to put that horror final behind him, expect some big months ahead for Diaz.