As the best-performing La Liga newcomers going into this round, the Cucumbers might have fancied their chances of causing an upset against a stuttering Real Madrid side forced into fielding a makeshift defence due to injuries.
Los Blancos never lack firepower though, and they asked plenty of questions of the hosts in the first half. Kylian Mbappé had an early goal ruled out for offside, and Turkish star Arda Güler showed great feet to skip past a couple of challenges before breaking into the area, only to see his effort well saved by Marko Dmitrović.
After all of their good defensive work, Leganes only had themselves to blame as Real hit the front two minutes before half time when Adrià Altimira was dispossessed just outside his own area, allowing Vinicius Jr to break free and square to the unmarked Mbappé, who rolled the ball into an empty net to ensure the visitors led at the break, while giving them an optimal chance of their first win in four away H2Hs.
In tandem with the fact that a league-low one of Leganés’ previous six La Liga home games this term had seen both teams get on the scoresheet, this state of affairs didn’t bode well for the hosts.
And any slim hopes they had were all but ended with just under 25 minutes remaining, when Fede Valverde’s free-kick went through the legs of Miguel de la Fuente and snuck past Dmitrović at the near post.
The home side never looked likely to get back into the contest – indeed, they failed to register a single shot on target – and Jude Bellingham’s late goal rubber-stamped a victory that saw the Blancos leapfrog Atletico Madrid into second place, four points behind leaders Barcelona with a game in hand.
Meanwhile, the Cucumbers remain 14th, four points above the relegation zone.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Fede Valverde (Real Madrid)