Real Madrid’s Pre-Season Momentum Grows Under Mourinho
Real Madrid’s pre-season rhythm is starting to sound familiar: early control, sharp finishing, and a coach who already sees a team taking shape.
Kylian Mbappé needed just six minutes to tilt this game Madrid’s way, pouncing on a dreadful back pass from Schallenberg and sliding his finish past Loris Karius. One mistake, ruthlessly punished. Madrid never really loosened their grip after that.
The second arrived on 20 minutes and it was straight off the training ground. Arda Güler whipped in a precise corner, and Huijsen met it with a firm header to double the lead. Simple, clean, and clinical – exactly the kind of detail José Mourinho has been demanding in these early weeks.
The pressure finally told again just before the hour. Substitute Espí, fresh from the bench, timed his run perfectly to meet Carreras’ cross and made it 3–0 in the 57th minute, sealing a victory that had felt inevitable from the opening spell.
Mourinho’s project takes shape
For Mourinho, this wasn’t about the scoreline. It was about the evolution.
“At this moment, it’s difficult to talk individually because we are growing as a team,” he told Realmadrid TV. “Here, we only have good players, very good players, and very, very, very good players. From the combination of the work of these players, we have to create a very, very good team. That’s what we’re trying to do, and I think we’re taking the right steps to achieve it.”
This is a squad still being assembled on the fly, but the rotations looked deliberate rather than experimental. Mbappé and Konaté were each given 45 minutes, a solid half of high-intensity work. Jude Bellingham, Marc Cucurella, and Ousmane Diomande all featured for 30 minutes as Mourinho spread the load with clear intent.
Cucurella and Diomande had to wait for their moment. Both were introduced on the hour mark, their debuts folded into a phase of the game where Madrid were managing tempo rather than chasing it. Mourinho wanted them to feel the pace without being overwhelmed.
“I’m also very happy with those who arrived last,” he said. “It’s not easy to jump straight into high-intensity training like what we are doing. It’s not easy for them to have double sessions in the morning and afternoon, because they train in the morning with the group and in the afternoon with the small group that joined now. With incredible heat. The 5 p.m. training session is really tough, and they arrived with a top mentality.”
Science, sweat and self-knowledge
The minutes weren’t handed out on instinct. Mourinho stressed that every decision is rooted in data and dialogue.
“Then, the question of 45 minutes for Mbappe and Konate or the 30 minutes for Bellingham, Cucurella, and Diomande are things that we analyze scientifically with the data we have,” he explained. “And with the most important factor, which is the player’s own experience, the knowledge the player has of their own body.”
Behind the scenes, that means double sessions, brutal afternoon heat, and a squad being pushed hard before the real tests arrive. On the pitch, it already looks like a team with clear patterns, clear roles, and clear expectations.
Mourinho’s verdict on the week ahead was as direct as his game plan.
“I think we’ve reached this good week, which is the next one, in a very acceptable condition for this moment in the season. Let’s go for it.”
