Real Madrid Impress as Mourinho Hails Growing Team
Real Madrid’s pre-season stepped up a gear as Kylian Mbappé struck early, the youngsters followed his lead, and José Mourinho walked away sounding exactly as he likes to sound in July: satisfied, but demanding more.
On a sweltering day that made every sprint feel heavier, Madrid still moved with clarity. They pressed, they punished mistakes, and they managed minutes with the sort of precision Mourinho loves to talk about.
Mbappé pounces, Huijsen rises, Espí finishes
Madrid didn’t wait long to impose themselves. In the sixth minute, Mbappé snapped into life, seizing on a dreadful back pass from Schallenberg. One touch, one finish, past Loris Karius. Ruthless, clinical, and the kind of goal that changes the entire rhythm of a friendly.
The control grew from there. Twenty minutes in, a set piece underlined the gap between the teams. Arda Güler, with that familiar whip and precision, dropped a corner exactly where it needed to be. Dean Huijsen attacked it, powered his header home, and Madrid were 2–0 up with barely a bead of sweat wasted.
The pressure finally told again just before the hour. Substitute Espí, sharp and alive in the box, timed his run to meet a driven cross from Carreras and tucked in the third in the 57th minute. It was a simple finish, but it capped a move that showed Madrid’s depth and intensity haven’t stayed in the dressing room with the stars.
Debuts under the sun and Mourinho’s careful plan
This was not just about the scoreboard. On the hour mark, Marc Cucurella and Ousmane Diomande were both handed their Madrid debuts, a first taste of Mourinho’s demands and the club’s expectations.
After the match, Mourinho’s focus stayed on the collective rather than individual headlines.
“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.”
Those “steps” are not gentle. Mourinho underlined the intensity of the sessions the new arrivals have walked into.
“I’m also very happy with those who arrived last. 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.”
The game itself reflected that planning. Mbappé and Konaté were each given 45 minutes, sharp and controlled, while Jude Bellingham, Cucurella, and Diomande all played 30 minutes as Mourinho balanced rhythm with protection.
“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.”
For Mourinho, this week feels like a checkpoint, not a destination.
“And 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.”
The scoreline said Madrid are already sharper than most in mid-summer. Mourinho’s words suggested he expects them to be far sharper still when the real tests arrive.
