BY GRACE ZIGAH
Jose Mourinho’s second coming at Real Madrid is already showing signs of the familiar challenges that characterised his first spell, with the Portuguese coach facing early questions over his team’s consistency after only seven La Liga matches.
Mourinho returned to the Santiago Bernabéu this summer, 13 years after leaving the club, signing a three-year contract with the responsibility of restoring stability and silverware following two trophyless seasons. But the defeat by city rivals Atletico Madrid has provided an early warning that his task could be considerably more complicated than initially expected.
The loss has left Real Madrid fourth in La Liga, while defending champions Barcelona have made a perfect start to the campaign. Hansi Flick’s side have won all seven matches, scoring 31 goals and opening up a six-point advantage over Madrid. Atletico are second and Real Betis third, both five points behind Barcelona.
Madrid’s position is particularly concerning given the historical difficulty of overturning such an early deficit. The only time Real Madrid have recovered from six points behind Barcelona to win La Liga was during Fabio Capello’s title-winning 2006-07 campaign.
The international break now gives Mourinho three weeks to assess his team before Madrid return to action against Villarreal on October 10, followed by a potentially decisive trip to Barcelona two weeks later.
One of the clearest weaknesses exposed against Atletico was Madrid’s inability to control the midfield. Mourinho started Aurelien Tchouameni alongside Federico Valverde, with Jude Bellingham operating further forward.
While the combination offered energy and defensive protection, Madrid struggled to dictate the tempo or create consistently from deeper positions. Bernardo Silva was introduced for the final eight minutes, but by then the contest had already slipped away.
Mourinho may therefore have to rethink his midfield balance, particularly against teams that sit deep and defend compactly. Silva’s ability to dictate play and Arda Guler’s creativity could provide additional solutions as Madrid seek greater control of matches.
Real Madrid possess extraordinary individual attacking talent, but Mourinho has yet to find the formula that consistently turns that quality into collective attacking threat.
Against Atletico, Kylian Mbappe struggled to influence the match and saw little of the ball, while Vinicius Jr was substituted shortly after Dean Huijsen was sent off early in the second half.
The challenge for Mourinho is to make Mbappe, Vinicius and Bellingham complement one another rather than occupy similar attacking spaces.
Vinicius must rediscover the directness and explosiveness that make him one of Europe’s most dangerous attackers, while Mbappe needs a more reliable supply of chances rather than being forced to manufacture opportunities on his own.
Mourinho also has another option emerging in Carlos Espi, who has already made an impact since joining Madrid. The 21-year-old scored a dramatic late winner against Espanyol on his league debut before repeating the feat with a stoppage-time goal against Elche.
His early contribution could earn him more opportunities, particularly in matches where Madrid require a natural focal point in attack.
