Champions League Debut! Mourinho Returns to Real Madrid, Seeking Victory Against Inter; Pre-Match Press Conference Full of Emotion

16 years ago, under the Bernabeu night sky, Inter Milan defeated Bayern Munich 2-0 to lift the third Champions League trophy in club history. After the final whistle, Mourinho sprinted, dropped to his knees, and embraced Marco Materazzi. In that team, there was a Romanian wearing No. 26 who played the full match and fought for every inch — Cristian Chivu. Sixteen years later, the same pitch is set again, with two colors of training bibs on the grass: on one side is Real Madrid under their new coach, with Mourinho sitting in the home dugout; on the other is Inter coached by Chivu, with the Romanian sitting in the visiting dugout. More interestingly, Inter have not won at the Bernabeu for a full 60 years. The question is: after returning to the Champions League with a frustrating 0-1 defeat behind him, can the 'Special One' turn his debut into a victory at the stadium he knows best? He had just said 'Chivu will always be my man,' and then he must face his former pupil over 90 minutes. Can you believe this is only the first round of the Champions League league phase?

First, the timeline needs to be made clear. On June 11, 2026, Real Madrid officially announced Mourinho as first-team head coach. The two sides signed a three-season contract until June 30, 2029, and Real Madrid paid Benfica a €15 million release fee. It had been 4,834 days since he last sat in the Bernabeu coaching seat as Real Madrid manager. From 2010 to 2013, he coached Real Madrid for 178 matches, recording 127 wins, 28 draws and 23 losses, winning one La Liga title, one Copa del Rey title and one Spanish Super Cup title, with only the Champions League missing.

But this time after returning, the defeat arrived in only the fourth round of the season. At 3:00 a.m. on September 5, in La Liga's fourth round, Real Madrid lost 0-1 away to Real Betis. Real Madrid had 20 shots, 8 on target, hit the woodwork three times and recorded an expected goals figure of 3.16. Opposing goalkeeper Valles made six saves, while Betis had only one shot on target and won through Parrot's rebound after an 81st-minute corner. In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Vinicius won a penalty and Mbappe stepped up from 12 yards — he had seven shots, four on target and missed four clear chances, but his penalty was saved. Before that, Real Madrid had beaten Espanyol 2-1 away, thrashed Real Sociedad 4-1 with a Mbappe hat-trick, and defeated Malaga 4-0, earning nine points from three straight wins. Overnight, all of that became history. By comparison, when he first managed Real Madrid, his first defeat did not arrive until November, a 0-5 loss at Camp Nou; this time it came in the fourth round.

There was no time to recover after the defeat, and Mourinho's response was direct: 'If we lost yesterday, I absolutely do not want to lose consecutive matches. I want to regain victory in the next game. This never-ending desire to win is my nature.' He also said something more fundamental: 'My goal is always to win the next match. This state began more than 20 years ago, and only when I completely leave football will this cycle end. The core of this cycle is that I want to win the next game.'

What moved fans was his response to this trust. From Manchester United to Tottenham, from Roma to Fenerbahce, and then Benfica, Mourinho was once away from the top five European leagues, and he won no trophies at either Fenerbahce or Benfica. His exact words were: 'This time, before joining, I had not won any trophies. The club chose me based on its understanding of my past. The team is in difficulty, and they believe I am the solution, believing I can lead the team out of the situation. This trust makes me very proud.'

The former pupil on the other side is not there to offer a gift. Chivu joined Inter from Roma in 2007, making 169 appearances in seven years and winning one Champions League, one Club World Cup, three Serie A titles, two Coppa Italia trophies and two Italian Super Cups, including the 2009-10 treble-winning team. On June 9, 2025, Inter announced that he would replace Simone Inzaghi and signed him to a two-year contract. At the time, many called him a 'rookie coach.' A year later, on May 3, 2026, he led the team to a 2-0 win over Parma, securing the 2025-26 Serie A title with three rounds remaining, Inter's 21st league title in history. On May 14, he defeated Lazio 2-0 at Rome's Olympic Stadium to lift Inter's 10th Coppa Italia trophy, winning a domestic double in his first full season as coach. Speaking about his former manager before the match, Chivu said: 'At the most difficult moments of my life, he gave me extremely important help. I will always be grateful for that, and I will never forget him.' Mourinho replied: 'Chivu will always be my man. I am sincerely happy for what he has achieved. I will hug him before and after the match. During the 90 minutes, we only talk about competition.'

Of course, there is also tension beyond the warmth. In that La Liga fourth-round match, Mbappe, Vinicius and Bellingham played the full game, while Arda Guler was substituted after 64 minutes — despite limited playing time, he created seven chances and three clear chances. AS directly criticized the situation: people expected Mourinho's authority over stars after his return to matter more than his recent coaching record; Vinicius, Bellingham and Mbappe would only be substituted when the result was decided or when they were exhausted and asked to come off, and the expected 'iron-fist management' had not translated into match decisions. At the same time, Espejo was shining repeatedly from the La Liga bench, and Bernabeu fans were watching closely: are Mbappe and Vinicius truly untouchable? Mourinho himself said: 'I am always the same person, although I look calmer.' So in this match, would he dare to replace Mbappe in the 60th minute?

The squad situation is even more difficult. Camavinga, Bernardo Silva and Guler are all suspended — B. Silva's red card came while he was playing for Manchester City last season, for handball in a Champions League match against Real Madrid, and he now carries the suspension into the Bernabeu. Tchouameni and Thiago Pitarch have just recovered from injuries and their conditions are uncertain. The only fully reliable natural midfielder Mourinho has available is Valverde. Moving Bellingham back to form a double pivot is one option, while promoting Castilla academy players Cesteros or Sergio Martinez is another. Asked at the press conference whether Arnold would play in midfield, he simply replied 'no comment' and jokingly added that the person who made the schedule might be Italian. As for Endrick, he confirmed he can play, but his fitness has not recovered and he can play at most five to 10 minutes.

The statistics are clear: Inter have not beaten Real Madrid since 1998, losing their last four meetings and being kept scoreless in their last three. Real Madrid have won all of their last seven home matches against Inter in all competitions. Inter's last 13 away matches against Spanish teams have produced four draws and nine defeats, with no wins. Opta's supercomputer gives Real Madrid a 56.0% chance of victory in this match. However, Inter have won four of their last five away matches in the Champions League league phase, keeping clean sheets in each, and have recorded clean sheets in 12 of their last 17 group-stage/league-phase matches. They have also started the new league season with three straight wins, with Lautaro scoring twice and adding a stoppage-time winner in the previous round. The referee is 36-year-old Englishman Michael Oliver, his sixth time officiating Real Madrid in European competition; Real Madrid previously won three and lost two of the five matches he refereed. He has officiated four Inter matches, with Inter winning three and drawing one. The VAR is Scotland's Andrew Dallas.

At 3:00 a.m. on September 9, the Bernabeu. Mourinho's Champions League debut, against the Inter team he led to a treble, with Chivu, the 'man who will always be his' according to Mourinho, in the opposite dugout. The South Stand will be singing his name from the first minute, while his midfield has only Valverde left. He has just lost a match with 20 shots and no goals, been criticized by AS for 'not daring to substitute Mbappe, Vinicius and Bellingham,' blamed VAR at the press conference over why the penalty was not retaken, and just said 'my goal is always to win the next game.' In this match, do you believe the Bernabeu's 60-year curse over Inter will continue, or will Chivu's Inter, riding a three-match winning streak, take three points away from this ground for the first time?