Jose Mourinho returned to the Santiago Bernabéu 13 years later and did so by manufacturing the gunpowder of his new Real Madrid. Mbappé, with three goals, Bellingham, with two assists, and Vinicius, with a goal and a goal pass, combined to thrash Real Sociedad in the league opener at Chamartín.
He must have liked the initial lineup at Cornellá, because Mourinho repeated players in his return to the white house. It was surprising, being the second matchday just four days after the first, but the Portuguese wanted to reconfirm feelings and kept Cucurella, Trent and Diomande, who were expected to start, on the bench, and maintained Dumfries, Carreras and Bernardo from the start.
It was a first half of moments. Real had theirs, growing with the ball. And the whites tried when they could run. Mbappé, in the 6th minute, had already tested Remiro.
The home crowd and coaching staff grew impatient with Mateo Busquets for a couple of decisions, such as the initial yellow card to Carreras, and Courtois appeared in the 10th minute to deflect a good shot from Oyarzabal with his foot. The timid whistles came before 20 minutes and left the feeling that the stands were not entirely trusting their team.
Through the feet of Bernardo and Arda, Madrid linked several good possessions that cheered the crowd and in the 20th minute Vinicius, finishing low, missed against Remiro after a good lay-off from Mbappé.
The night faded as the minutes passed until we approached halftime, with Real dominating and the Bernabéu losing its calm. The public still doesn’t understand their team’s lack of ability to dominate with the ball.
A volley from Sergio Gómez that went just wide of the post increased the stadium’s volume, but Mbappé’s goal five minutes later changed the mood. Valverde followed his nature and broke lines with the ball to assist the Frenchman, who with a good touch oriented himself to finish with his left foot against Remiro. Goal and a sigh of relief.
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It didn’t do much good, because four minutes later Sucic took advantage of Carreras’ passivity on a loose ball inside the area after a counterattack and beat Courtois.
The goal and the yellow card he received cost the Galician his place in the team, as he stayed in the dressing room at halftime for Cucurella to come on.
Just as he came onto the field, Güler played a good through ball to Mbappé who again finished low, with Remiro reappearing to save his team. The Frenchman was electric and physically sharp, but too erratic in front of the rival goal despite the goal.
The duel paused for ten minutes until a foul on Bellingham caused Mourinho to jump off the bench. Something clicked there, because the whites sealed the night in the next ten minutes. First with a great goal from Mbappé after a one-two with Bellingham on the left corner of Real’s area. Valverde found the Frenchman, who combined with the Englishman and comfortably beat Remiro.
Bellingham would create another goal a few minutes later. Tireless in his attempts, he collected a loose ball after good pressure from Konaté, looked for his shot, fought for the rebound, won it and assisted Vinicius for the Brazilian to celebrate his renewal with a goal after an inconsistent match.
The lead on the scoreboard calmed Madrid’s anxiety and sentenced Real, who conceded the fourth in the 80th minute. The Basques took several steps back and Madrid took advantage. Vinicius saw Mbappé’s run and the Frenchman, fine, very fine, chipped the ball with his left foot over Remiro’s outstretched hand. Six points in two games, six goals for the whites and smiles on Mourinho’s return to Chamartín.
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