Real Madrid have three points, a debutant match-winner and a manager who is not remotely satisfied. The Mourinho warning coming out of Valdebebas this week is not a criticism of his players — it is closer to a promise. According to Bernabéu Digital, citing El Debate, José Mourinho believes his squad has not yet shown anything like its real level, and he knows exactly which box needs ticking first.
Fitness. Not personnel, not the system, not attitude. The Portuguese is convinced the biggest margin for growth in this squad sits in the physical department, and that once his players reach top condition, Los Blancos will look far closer to the team he has in his head.
The Mourinho Warning Behind The Three Points
The read on the opener at the RCDE Stadium supports him. Bernabéu Digital noted separately that Real Madrid started the match at a genuinely high level before the rhythm dropped away noticeably late in the first half and into the early stages of the second. The result held up — Carlos Espí won it on debut — but the shape of the performance told its own story.
El Debate’s reporting, as carried by Bernabéu Digital, has Mourinho placing complete faith in the talent available to him. What he wants is the ability to sustain his intensity for the full 90 minutes, and that means finishing the conditioning work started in pre-season rather than reaching for a signing. Both the manager and the players are described as confident in what the new staff is implementing, with a noticeable buzz around Valdebebas.
Two Home Wins, Then The Villamarín
The plan attached to the warning is refreshingly concrete. Mourinho’s stated aim, per the same reporting, is to take maximum points from the next two games at the Santiago Bernabéu — Real Sociedad on Wednesday, then Málaga — and to arrive at the Benito Villamarín with a perfect record and, crucially, in considerably better physical shape than now. The trip to face Real Betis is being treated as the first real measuring stick of the season.
There is a selection message buried in there too. Mourinho does not consider that he has a settled starting eleven at all: the reporting suggests he counts around 20 players capable of starting, and he regards that internal competition as a good thing. Nobody in this dressing room is being handed a shirt on reputation, a point already visible in the way Aurélien Tchouaméni’s standing has been reframed.
Tchouaméni Back With The Group
On that note, Monday brought good news at Ciudad Real Madrid. Following Sunday’s day off, Bernabéu Digital report that Tchouaméni trained normally with the rest of the squad for the first time since returning from his summer break, having been working away from the group because of discomfort he came back carrying.
That issue cost him a normal pre-season and kept him out of the squad for Espanyol as a precaution, but his physical condition was never considered at risk and the recovery process has been completed successfully. Club footage showed him going through the session as usual, and various sources expect him to be in the squad for Wednesday.
Expect caution, though. Mourinho has already shown he will not gamble on players short of match rhythm — Marc Cucurella and Yan Diomande were both handled carefully at Cornellà — and the same logic may well apply here. With Jude Bellingham’s ankle under assessment, the manager could use another available midfielder.
Fitter, Not Different
This is the most encouraging version of a slow start a Madridista could ask for. The Mourinho warning is not that something is broken; it is that the team currently running at this level is running below itself, and the fix is training-ground work rather than a deadline-day scramble. Real Sociedad visit the Bernabéu on Wednesday 26 August. The next few weeks will tell us whether the physical jump he is banking on actually arrives.
