The French star motivates his Brazilian team-mate amid a decline in his performance

Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappé reckons Vinícius Júnior's sadness is only natural, insisting it comes from the Brazilian's desire to give his best for the Spanish club.

Vinícius turned in another lacklustre display on Wednesday night at the Santiago Bernabéu as Real beat Leipzig 4-1 in the third round of the Champions League league phase.

He started the match. But José Mourinho pulled him off in the 70th minute for Yann Diomande, who grabbed an assist and a goal in just 20 minutes.

Head down, Vinícius trudged off to angry jeers from the Real Madrid fans, a reaction to his dip in form since the start of the season.

Asked about his team-mate after the Leipzig game, Mbappé told Movistar: "It's fine. It's good that Vinícius feels sad because he wants to give a lot to the team and the fans. He has to stay calm and be proud of himself. He is a wonderful player with great talent."

The Frenchman also weighed up his own situation and admitted he needs to improve, telling Marca: "I'm fine. I can do more. I'm one of those players who always needs to put in more effort. It's never enough for a player like me."

On Real Madrid's third Champions League win, he said: "We know that every point is important to reach the top eight places. We have to win as many matches as possible. We have won three matches."

Finally, Mbappé turned to Sunday's Clásico against Barcelona: "We were only thinking about today's match. As for what will happen on Sunday, we can think about it now. Before that, the team was not thinking about Sunday's match."