Mourinho Returns to Bernabéu: New Challenges Ahead
Real Madrid have barely drawn breath from their opening scare of the season at Espanyol and they are already staring at something bigger: a first home game back at the Santiago Bernabéu, a rescheduled Matchday 1 against Real Sociedad and the return of Jose Mourinho to the stadium that once defined him.
The setting has changed since Madrid last played a competitive game here. New faces in the dressing room, a different hierarchy on the touchline, a squad reshaped around a terrifying front three. The noise, though, will be familiar.
On the eve of his Bernabéu comeback, Mourinho sat down in front of the cameras and made one thing clear: this project, even at Real Madrid, starts from the ground up.
“We start from scratch, although it is not from scratch, people already have feelings,” he said. “There is a willingness to do things right and to support the team.”
Balancing stars and scars
Madrid’s delayed league opener comes with a World Cup hangover for several of their players. Mourinho knows he is walking a tightrope between rhythm and overload.
“You have to do this management well between playing nothing and playing a lot, for example Cucurella. I gave him 30 minutes,” he explained. “My vision is mixed with data and with what the players tell me, the knowledge that each one has of himself.”
The message is simple: no automatic starters, no automatic passengers. Every minute is calculated.
Vinicius in the firing line
The conversation soon turned to Vinicius Jr., and the storm that follows him in every stadium in Spain. The insults from the stands, the constant fouls, the sense that decisions tilt against him.
Mourinho did not dodge it. He went straight for the heart of the issue.
“The reaction of the normal public can be controlled. Vinicius' relationship with the rival stand can improve. But the kicks, insults, and aggressions are due to the referee,” he said.
“Justice must be given. It is the referee who has to protect the players and the game. You can work on your relationship with your adversaries.”
He then underlined what he has seen since taking over.
“Last season I saw every match of Madrid and Barcelona. But what I have seen now, in preseason, it is obvious that there is a difference between Vinicius and other players,” Mourinho continued.
“A dynamic has been entered, the opponents know they can. If they foul Vini, the yellow card arrives after making 10 fouls. It's a treatment I don't like.”
From the outside, when he was at Benfica, he admits he only cared about his own team.
“When I was Benfica coach, I was only interested in Benfica. Vini may have more control, but if it's a kick and aggression, it's expulsion.”
Even so, he insisted he trusts the officials – with a sting in the tail.
“After seeing the last game, I really liked the refereeing. I trust the Spanish refereeing. I always trust the referee. After the game sometimes there are things I don't like,” he said, before dropping a pointed aside: “Yes Negreira, yes friends, I'm not there. I'm totally with the referees.”
A calmer Mourinho, same steel underneath
The Mourinho on the bench now is not the same explosive figure who once prowled the Bernabéu touchline. At least, not on the surface.
“I have been feeling calmer for years, with more control of my emotions. But it's not something new,” he said. “Now I face difficult situations or frustrations, because we have not yet lost.”
Then came a line that sums up his demands inside Valdebebas.
“I don't like laziness, I like people who work for Real Madrid. So far I haven't seen laziness, everyone gives everything. And everyone protects me from my dark side. I feel good like this.”
He knows what he has in his hands: perhaps the most feared attacking trident in world football.
“The most complicated thing is when you don't have top-level players. That has happened to me in other teams. Not here. I want all three of them (Mbappé, Bellingham, Vinicius) and I am here to make decisions.”
On the reception awaiting him at the Bernabéu, he batted away any hint of personal tribute.
“I don't want the Bernabeu to receive me in a particular way, I want it to receive the team as its team, with its passion.”
The market? Officially closed in his head, even if football never really stops.
“It's still open, you never know what you can go through. At the moment everything is closed, but the president or José Ángel can call me to tell me that there is an offer for one. For me, the market is closed. I would like to stay with this squad this season.”
Valverde, Mbappé, Endrick: pieces on the board
Once the big themes were out of the way, the questions drilled into individuals. Federico Valverde first.
“I don't like it when they make him play on the right back. It has happened to him in the past. For me, he is a midfield player. He can be more positional, or more mobile.”
Then came a little tactical philosophy.
“Teams must have solutions. A full-back is a full-back, but today he can be a winger. Or like Trent, who can play inside.”
The prospect of Carlos Espi and Kylian Mbappé sharing the pitch quickly followed.
“We can see them together, or with Endrick. Carlos has a different profile, it was perfect for how the game against Espanyol was. I thought Carlos could be important at that time to suffocate the rival.”
In midfield, Aurelien Tchouameni remains a delicate case after pushing his body to the limit at the World Cup.
“He has suffered a lot in the World Cup. He risked everything. He played in the semifinals with everything,” Mourinho said.
“He has a setback, the player is ready to play and could have continued, but we believe he should start the season at 100%. We have decided with him and the staff to wait, so that he returns a week or two later, but 100%.”
Endrick, currently sidelined, still excites him.
“There is a specific problem next to the tendon, but it is more of a precaution. He's a player I like so much,” Mourinho admitted.
“He has had so many, so many offers from clubs. I didn't want to give in. I'm sure he's going to get to Carlo Ancelotti's first call. He will call me directly.”
The Bernabéu will judge this Madrid quickly. Mourinho knows it. His words, though, suggest he is ready to be judged on his own terms.
