Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad: Mourinho’s Homecoming and Title Ambitions

The Bernabeu lights go on again. Jose Mourinho walks back into a Real Madrid home dugout. And the reigning Copa del Rey holders arrive with a point to prove.

On Wednesday night, Real Madrid host Real Sociedad in La Liga, a meeting that pits one of Spain’s traditional trophy machines against the side that broke the duopoly in last season’s cup. Kickoff is at 9pm local time (19:00 GMT) in Madrid, with Al Jazeera Sport on air from 16:00 GMT before live text commentary.

A new season, an old drought

For all the star names and global noise, Real Madrid are in unfamiliar territory. They are trying to dodge a third straight season without a major trophy – something the club have not endured since 2006. Across the last 12 Copa del Rey finals, either Madrid or Barcelona have missed out on only four, yet it was Sociedad who lifted the trophy last time, beating Atletico Madrid.

That sting still lingers. So does Barcelona’s grip on La Liga. A Barca threepeat is the nightmare Mourinho has been hired to stop.

His second spell in charge began with late drama at Espanyol on Saturday. Madrid led through Jude Bellingham, were pegged back by Alex Calatrava, then needed substitute Carlos Espi to crash home a 90th-minute winner in a 2-1 escape.

“I think that we deserved to win but that Espanyol didn’t deserve to lose,” Mourinho said afterwards, acknowledging the hosts’ cohesion after a summer without World Cup disruption.

It was a reminder: this Madrid is talented, but still a work in progress.

Mourinho 2.0: same edge, new problems

Thirteen years after walking away, Mourinho returns to a very different Real Madrid. The mission is brutally simple: restore order in a dressing room that unravelled last season and wrest La Liga back from Barcelona.

He did not ease himself in gently. At Espanyol, he unleashed a starting XI loaded with firepower: Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Bellingham, plus debuts for Bernardo Silva, Denzel Dumfries and Ibrahima Konate. Off the bench came record signing Yan Diomande and Marc Cucurella.

Bellingham, after a brilliant first year followed by two flat, trophyless seasons, has been handed licence to roam in an attacking midfield role. He responded with a busy, assertive display capped by a header from Arda Guler’s whipped free-kick.

Mbappe, La Liga’s top scorer in each of his two seasons in Spain, found space early on the right but was denied by the goalkeeper and never hit his usual ruthless stride. Vinicius, harried and hacked on the left, won fouls but little else.

The talent is obvious. The fluency, less so. The pressure, enormous.

Vinicius, the lightning rod

Mourinho has chosen to confront one of Madrid’s most volatile storylines head-on: Vinicius Junior and the treatment he receives.

The Brazilian was again at the centre of several flashpoints with Espanyol fans and players. Mourinho wants to help him channel that fury without losing his edge.

“There is on the field and off the field,” he said. Abuse from the stands that is not racist or homophobic, he argued, is something Vinicius can learn to handle better. The on-pitch rough treatment, though, is on what Mourinho calls the “judges” – the referees – to control.

He believes there is a clear difference in how Vinicius is refereed compared with others.

“It’s gone into a spiral in which the opponents know what they can do and what they can’t do,” Mourinho said. If rivals can keep fouling, provoking and kicking without early yellow cards, the coach sees “a type of treatment that I don’t like”.

The comments carry extra weight given their history. Last year, when Mourinho was Benfica coach, he was criticised for questioning Vinicius’ character after the forward accused an opponent of racially insulting him in a Champions League match. Mourinho argued then that the Brazilian incited rivals with his celebrations.

Now he is the man tasked with protecting him, on and off the pitch. The irony is impossible to ignore.

Sociedad’s tricky start

Real Sociedad arrive as defending Copa del Rey champions but with no points on the board. Their La Liga opener ended in a narrow 1-0 defeat at Real Betis, settled by Rodrigo Riquelme’s clean volley from a Cucho Hernandez cross.

It was a tight, even contest, but the schedule has been unforgiving. With the league start staggered to ease the load on World Cup-hit squads, Sociedad have been handed back-to-back away fixtures – hardly ideal for a team that won just three of 19 league matches on the road last season.

They do, however, carry threat. Betis finished fifth last year, and Sociedad still went toe-to-toe with them. This trip, though, is a different beast.

History at the Bernabeu: goals, chaos and scars

Madrid’s recent home record against Sociedad is imposing but not flawless. The last league meeting at the Bernabeu ended 4-1 to Real. Vinicius Junior scored twice from the spot, with Gonzalo Garcia and Federico Valverde also on target. Mikel Oyarzabal’s 21st-minute penalty had briefly levelled the game before Madrid surged into a 3-1 half-time lead and never looked back.

Yet Sociedad know how to hurt them.

They last beat Madrid in La Liga in May 2023, a 2-0 win in San Sebastian. Takefusa Kubo and Ander Barrenetxea struck either side of Dani Carvajal’s red card to punish 10-man Real.

Their most famous recent triumph in Madrid came in the Copa del Rey in February 2020. Sociedad stunned the Bernabeu 4-3. Martin Odegaard, now Arsenal captain, opened the scoring. Alexander Isak’s brace made it 3-0 by the 56th minute. Marcelo pulled one back, Mikel Merino restored the three-goal cushion, and late efforts from Rodrygo and Nacho set up a frantic finish, compounded by Andoni Gorosabel’s dismissal.

In La Liga at the Bernabeu, Sociedad’s last win was a 2-0 success in January 2019. Willian Jose and Ruben Pardo scored, while Lucas Vazquez saw red for Madrid.

The broader numbers underline the scale of their task. Sociedad have won just one of their last 20 league visits to Real Madrid, scoring a respectable 19 goals but conceding 54. Real have taken 16 victories in that stretch.

Across all competitions, the head-to-head is just as lopsided: 158 meetings, 91 Madrid wins, 27 for Sociedad.

Team news: stars, absentees and doubts

Mourinho’s options are stacked in attack but thinner elsewhere.

For Real Madrid, Eder Militao (muscle), Rodrygo (knee), Raul Asencio (thigh) and Ferland Mendy (hip) remain out. Endrick (muscle), Thiago Pitarch (knee) and Aurelien Tchouameni (muscle) are doubts and could also miss the game.

Bellingham is expected to feature despite icing his ankle after coming off at Espanyol.

Madrid’s likely XI:

• Courtois
• Dumfries
• Konate
• Huijsen
• Cucurella
• Bernardo
• Valverde
• Guler
• Bellingham
• Vinicius
• Mbappe

For Real Sociedad, there is a notable absentee with a Bernabeu past. Former Madrid full-back Alvaro Odriozola, now back at his boyhood club, is sidelined by a long-term knee injury. Pablo Marin (muscle), Jon Gorrotxategi (muscle) and Goncalo Guedes (muscle) all face late fitness tests.

Mikel Oyarzabal, a World Cup winner with Spain, started on the bench at Betis but is expected to lead the line in Madrid.

Sociedad’s likely XI:

• Remiro
• Aramburu
• Zubeldia
• Martin
• Gomez
• Herrera
• Soler
• Kubo
• Sucic
• Barrenetxea
• Oyarzabal

The numbers and the noise

The data is clear. The Opta supercomputer hands Real Madrid a 66 percent chance of victory. Sociedad are given just 15 percent, with the draw making up the rest.

History backs the algorithm. So does the squad depth, the stadium, the mood around Mourinho’s return.

But this fixture has a habit of producing chaos. Sociedad have already shown, in league and cup, that they can turn the Bernabeu into a nerve centre rather than a fortress.

Madrid want a statement win to announce Mourinho’s homecoming and signal the end of their trophy drought. Sociedad want proof that last season’s Copa del Rey triumph was not a one-off.

One side fights to reclaim its old habit of winning everything. The other arrives determined to make that habit a little harder to revive.