Bernardo Silva scored the first Real Madrid goal at the end of the first half to give Jose Mourinho’s side the lead Champions League clash with RB Leipzig.
Madrid entered Wednesday’s clash at the Santiago Bernabéu riding a three-game winning streak and aiming to maintain that momentum ahead of Sunday’s Clasico with Barcelona.
But they struggled to dictate proceedings against their Bundesliga rivals, 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 missing 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 quicker to break the deadlock after goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt failed to deal with Arda Guler’s low strike.
Vandevoordt made contact with the shot, but only managed to parry it as it squirmed through the legs, with Silva on hand to tap in at point-blank range.