Mourinho’s Second Real Madrid Era: The First Defeat Arrived a Little Too Early

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Luck? Strength? Either way, this could be the beginning of another difficult period. La Liga’s fourth round started early, with Real Madrid traveling to Seville and losing 0-1 to Real Betis. Mourinho suffered his first defeat of the season in charge of the team. Mbappe missed a penalty, and Espi’s stoppage-time equalizer was ruled out. Real Madrid fans can certainly complain about bad luck, but the reality is harsh: if they start losing this early, what will happen after the Champions League begins?

Real Madrid started with three straight wins, scoring four goals in each of their first two matches against Real Sociedad and Malaga. It seemed Mourinho’s coaching methods were working well, bringing out the best in Bellingham and Guler. However, when looking at the matches minute by minute, you can see Real Madrid did not complete a perfect performance. Even though they kept a clean sheet against Malaga, they lost the motivation to play seriously in the second half after securing the result early, instead playing a cat-and-mouse game with their opponents. Mourinho has always demanded a high level of tactical execution, and he is unlikely to be satisfied with the team’s current attitude.

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The opponents in this round, whether Betis or Pellegrini, were not teams that could easily be controlled. At the European level, Betis, like Real Madrid, are playing in the Champions League. Looking at their recent meetings, Real Madrid’s last away win against Betis came back in 2021, and in their following four away matches they recorded three draws and one defeat. Looking at the two managers’ head-to-head record, since Mourinho last left the Bernabeu, he has only won three of ten encounters with the Chilean coach, drawing three and losing four.

Before the match, reporters brought up the old story of Mourinho mocking Pellegrini. At the time, the proud Portuguese coach mocked the veteran manager for coaching the 'newly rich' Malaga, saying, 'If I ever get sacked by Real Madrid, I would at least go to an English Premier League or Italian Serie A club; I could never go to Malaga.' However, more than a decade later, the former 'Special One' is no longer stubbornly holding that view, saying he 'did say some stupid things, and looking back now, I seem like a fool.' Pellegrini and Ranieri, whom he once mocked, later achieved their own successes, while Mourinho himself also coached clubs such as Fenerbahce in less prominent leagues. Everyone has entered the later stages of their careers and experienced many things, becoming more open-minded and kinder in their words.

Even after the defeat, Mourinho no longer showed his former sharpness, speaking calmly while adding some humor and frustration: 'I cannot change how everyone will evaluate the match tomorrow, but speaking about today’s feeling, I do not know why we lost, because the team overall played very well. Every player’s attitude was beyond criticism. We should have won, but the words “should have” do not count.'

Real Madrid indeed had many chances in the first half to finish the match decisively, just as they did against Malaga. But if players’ finishing form is also considered part of luck, Real Madrid could say they suffered terrible fortune that night. Guler, Bellingham and Vinicius all delivered chances that seemed certain to be converted, but Mbappe’s shots either hit defenders or were saved by the goalkeeper. Of course, if they maintain this rhythm, breaking through seems only a matter of time. But as mentioned before, Real Madrid have not been able to maintain sustained pressure and create threats throughout an entire match for a long time.

Betis were initially only defending under pressure, giving everything to protect their goal. But through the patient organization of Isco and Roca, the home side gradually pushed forward and approached Real Madrid’s penalty area. In the 81st minute, Bellerin and Riquelme continued applying pressure and won a corner. Deossa’s header was saved by Courtois, and the unmarked Irish striker Parrott scored the rebound, with no offside involved.

Real Madrid finally woke up and launched a desperate attack, almost rescuing the match. First, Espi scored with an acrobatic side volley, but it was ruled out because he had been offside during the previous play. Then Vinicius broke through and was fouled, and referee Hernandez awarded Real Madrid a crucial penalty. But Mbappe, standing at the penalty spot against a seemingly inspired Valles, failed again. His shot lacked quality and was saved directly, while his left-footed follow-up also missed. Real Madrid’s first defeat of the season arrived amid the players’ shocked and disappointed expressions.

The last time Real Madrid suffered such an early defeat was in the 2014-15 season, when they lost to Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid in the second and third rounds respectively. Eventually, Ancelotti’s team finished second, two points behind champions Barcelona. Over the past four years, Real Madrid’s first-half-of-the-season performances have generally been strong, with their first defeats usually coming against Barcelona or Atletico Madrid. The decisive point in title races often does not appear until after Christmas and the Spanish Super Cup. This season, they have already dropped league points before the Champions League begins, while the expensive Yan Diomande has yet to make an impact. What should they do next?

Author: Wu Yifan

Originally published on Taitan Plus app

Images sourced from the internet

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