Mourinho's Second Era at Real Madrid Begins with Late Drama
Jose Mourinho’s second life at Real Madrid started exactly the way he likes it: with late drama, a roar from the away end and three points ripped from a game that threatened to slip away.
Real beat Espanyol 2-1 in LaLiga on Saturday, substitute Carlos Espi smashing home in the 90th minute to snatch victory at the death and cap a chaotic, nerve-jangling opening night.
Mourinho 2.0 begins with a jolt
Thirteen years after walking away from the Bernabéu, Mourinho is back with a very different brief. The Portuguese coach has inherited a dressing room that spun out of control last season and a club still living in the shadow of Barcelona’s domestic dominance. The margin for error is tiny. The scrutiny is huge.
So he went big with his first line-up.
Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all started. Bernardo Silva, Denzel Dumfries and Ibrahima Konate were thrown straight in for their debuts. It was a team built to send a message as much as to win a football match.
Bellingham, after a dazzling first year in Madrid followed by two flat, trophyless seasons, was given centre stage again. Mourinho pushed him into an attacking midfield role, told him to roam, to lead, to hurt Espanyol between the lines. From the opening minutes he was everywhere, stitching moves together, arriving late in the box, demanding the ball.
The first goal of Mourinho’s second era belonged to him.
Arda Guler whipped in a vicious, teasing free-kick from the right, and Bellingham attacked it, rising to glance a header past Marko Dmitrovic. Simple, direct, ruthless. The kind of set-piece goal Mourinho has built entire seasons on.
Espanyol bite back
For a spell, it looked like Madrid might cruise. They had the ball, they had the territory, they had the star power. But Espanyol refused to play the role of opening-day victim.
Thibaut Courtois had to be sharp midway through the first half, beating away a fierce drive from Clemens Riedel. Moments later, Roberto Fernandez hooked an effort over the bar. The warnings were clear. Madrid ignored them.
On the half-hour, Espanyol struck with a move that sliced right through Mourinho’s new-look side. A slick passing sequence pulled white shirts out of position, Javi Hernandez reached the byline and cut the ball back, and Alex Calatrava arrived to slot calmly past Courtois. One-one, and fully deserved.
The equaliser rattled Madrid. Espanyol grew bolder, the home crowd louder. Mbappe, LaLiga’s top scorer in each of his two seasons in Spain, finally found space in behind on the right, but Dmitrovic stood tall and blocked his low effort. The Frenchman buzzed around the box but lacked his usual cold precision when the chances came.
Changes, pressure… and a forgotten man
As the minutes ticked away, Mourinho turned to his bench. On came record signing Yan Diomande. On came Marc Cucurella. Fresh legs, fresh energy, the same problem: Espanyol dug in and defended their box with everything they had.
Federico Valverde almost broke them. The Uruguayan drilled a skidding shot from the edge of the area that beat Dmitrovic but clipped the outside of the post and flew wide. It felt, briefly, like the moment the game tilted back Madrid’s way. Instead, the tension only deepened.
Espanyol retreated into a low block, clearing crosses, blocking shots, surviving. Madrid pushed higher, full-backs almost playing as wingers, centre-backs camped in the Espanyol half. The clock crept towards 90. An opening-day stumble loomed.
Then the ball broke loose in the box, and the least heralded of Madrid’s summer signings stepped forward.
Carlos Espi, the former Levante striker, had arrived with nowhere near the fanfare of Mbappe or the price tag of Diomande. He was supposed to be depth, a squad piece, a quiet addition. On this night, he was everything.
As the ball ricocheted in the area, Espi reacted first, pouncing before the defenders could set themselves. One touch, one clean, driven finish. Dmitrovic had no chance. Madrid’s bench exploded. Mourinho turned to celebrate a winner that felt like a statement as much as a relief.
Elsewhere in LaLiga
Earlier in the day, Sevilla opened their campaign with a 3-1 win away at Athletic Bilbao, laying down an early marker of their own. Valencia and Celta Vigo, by contrast, shared a goalless draw, a flat 0-0 that offered little of the drama served up in Barcelona.
For Mourinho and Madrid, though, the scoreboard is all that matters tonight. The performance was uneven, the defending shaky, the finishing wasteful. But the season has started with a fightback and a last-minute winner.
If this is the tone of Mourinho’s second spell, LaLiga might be in for a wild ride.
