Real Madrid 2-1 Inter Milan is the sort of scoreline that flatters nobody. Los Blancos opened their Champions League campaign with three points at the Santiago Bernabéu on Tuesday night, and by the final whistle nobody inside the ground was pretending the performance had deserved it.
Two goals inside the opening 20 minutes did the damage, and both of them arrived courtesy of Inter. Brahim Díaz pounced on a moment of confusion between the visiting defenders and slid Kylian Mbappé through to finish. Minutes later Federico Valverde pressed goalkeeper Josep Martínez, dispossessed him and turned the ball into an empty net. Two-nil, and Madrid had barely constructed anything themselves.
Real Madrid 2-1 Inter Milan: Courtois carried it home
What followed was chaos. José Mourinho, back on European duty at the Bernabéu for the first time since his return, described it bluntly: “It’s been a crazy match. So much criticism when the game is boring, well, it’s a crazy match. It could have perfectly ended 7-6.” He was not exaggerating by much. Managing Madrid logged a combined 4.78 xG across the 90 minutes.
Thibaut Courtois made seven saves, several of them at moments when Inter deserved to be level. Both Mourinho and Valverde said afterwards that the Belgian should have taken the man-of-the-match award; the trophy went to the captain instead, and he immediately handed the credit back. “Thibaut deserves a huge share of the credit for this award because he saved us today,” Valverde said. “This award belongs to him too.” It is a fair summary of a night that also underlined why Courtois is on this year’s Yashin Trophy shortlist.
His own verdict was pointed. “The match could have ended 4-4,” Courtois said. “Sometimes we lack a bit of control, a bit of possession and a bit of composure.”
The midfield experiment that did not hold
With Arda Güler, Eduardo Camavinga and Bernardo Silva all unavailable through the suspensions carried over from last season, Mourinho pushed Trent Alexander-Arnold inside alongside Valverde. It did not work. Madrid lost the midfield battle for long stretches and invited an Inter side that has reached two of the last four finals to come at them.
Valverde admitted as much. “Mourinho told us clearly at half-time to keep possession more, especially in their half,” the captain said. “But we didn’t do that. We have to be self-critical — we had a poor second half, we played their game.” Carlos Augusto duly pulled one back, and the closing minutes were survived rather than managed.
Vinícius, the whistles and a one-minute punishment
The other story of the evening was in the stands. Vinícius Júnior finished without a goal or an assist and was whistled by sections of the Bernabéu, as Madrid Universal reported. His substitution then cost Madrid directly: referee Michael Oliver judged that the Brazilian took too long to leave the pitch and, under this season’s new rules, refused to let Álvaro Carreras on for more than a minute, per Marca. Inter came close to equalising while a man up.
Mourinho defended him without pretending the night had gone well. “Vinícius Júnior has worked incredibly hard, he knows he’s not yet in killer mode,” the manager said, adding: “If he works for the team, he always has my support. Someone who gives their all isn’t obligated to give more.” The effort was real enough: nine ball recoveries.
Three points, and plenty to fix
There were positives. Mbappé’s opener was his 71st Champions League goal, moving him level with Raúl as the competition’s fifth-highest scorer. Dean Huijsen made 12 clearances, and Brahim was Madrid’s best creator. Inter boss Cristian Chivu refused to be downcast — “I’m not at all angry” — while captain Lautaro Martínez insisted his side “did much more than Real Madrid”.
He has a case. But Madrid took maximum points from the hardest fixture of their league phase, and as Huijsen put it: “It’s the three points that count.” Whether Mourinho can find a functioning midfield before those suspensions clear is the question that follows the team into the international break — a theme we explored when previewing his European homecoming at the Bernabéu.
