Real Madrid Dominates as Mourinho Praises Growing Squad
Kylian Mbappé needed just six minutes to remind everyone why Real Madrid moved the earth to bring him in. One loose back pass from Schallenberg, one ruthless finish past Loris Karius, and Madrid were in front and in control.
From there, José Mourinho’s team never really let go.
Mbappé strikes, Huijsen rises, Madrid cruise
Madrid pressed high, hunted in packs and forced the early mistake that Mbappé devoured. The forward read Schallenberg’s under-hit ball, burst through and finished with the kind of icy precision that turns pre-season minutes into a statement.
The second goal came from a very different source but with the same level of conviction. On 20 minutes, Arda Güler whipped in a superb corner and Dean Huijsen attacked it with authority, thundering his header home to double the lead. A set piece, yes, but the product of sustained pressure and sharp execution.
After the break, Mourinho rotated and the rhythm shifted slightly, yet the control remained. The pressure finally told again in the 57th minute. Substitute Espí arrived in the box at exactly the right moment to meet a cross from Carreras, steering it in to seal a 3–0 victory that felt as comfortable as the scoreline suggests.
Mourinho’s double sessions and data-driven minutes
The score was one thing. Mourinho’s real satisfaction came from how his squad absorbed another brutal day of work.
“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.”
The steps have been hard ones. Double sessions, suffocating heat, and no easing-in for the late arrivals.
“I’m also very happy with those who arrived last,” Mourinho said. “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.”
That “top mentality” framed every decision on the night. Mbappé and Konaté were given 45 minutes, sharp but controlled. Jude Bellingham, Cucurella and Diomande came in for 30, a carefully measured dose of match fitness rather than a show of endurance.
“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,” Mourinho explained. “And with the most important factor, which is the player’s own experience, the knowledge the player has of their own body.”
Debuts under a burning sun
The hour mark brought a small but significant landmark. Cucurella and Diomande stepped on for their debuts, folded into a side already in command of the game but still being pushed physically.
No grand unveiling. Just minutes, responsibility and the demand to cope with the intensity Mourinho keeps talking about.
By the final whistle, Madrid had their win, their clean sheet and, more importantly for their coach, another solid layer on top of an unforgiving pre-season base.
“I think we’ve reached this good week, which is the next one, in a very acceptable condition for this moment in the season,” Mourinho concluded. “Let’s go for it.”
The results will count soon enough. For now, Madrid look like a team that knows exactly where it’s heading.
