The Real Madrid squad vs Inter is in, and it comes with better news than Jose Mourinho could have expected 24 hours ago. As Marca reports, Aurelien Tchouameni, Thiago Pitarch and Endrick have all been included for Tuesday night’s Champions League opener at the Santiago Bernabeu — a list that still carries seven absentees and three academy call-ups.
Three back in the Real Madrid squad vs Inter
Tchouameni is the one that matters most. The Frenchman had been carrying a knock into last weekend’s defeat at Real Betis, and Mundo Deportivo reported on Monday that he had come through training and was gaining ground on a start. With Los Blancos this short in midfield, his availability changes the shape of the team rather than just the bench.
Endrick, a minor doubt in the build-up, is fit enough to be involved too, giving Mourinho a genuine alternative through the middle in a match Madrid may yet have to chase.
Thiago Pitarch’s inclusion is the quiet feel-good line. The teenage midfielder has been sidelined by a knee problem since the summer, a spell that began not long after his proposed move to Fulham collapsed. A place on a Champions League list at the Bernabeu is a decent way to restart a season.
The seven absentees
The gaps are the familiar ones. Rodrygo remains out with the knee injury expected to keep him sidelined into early 2027, Ferland Mendy is still working back from a thigh problem, Eder Militao continues his recovery from hamstring surgery, and Raul Asencio is short of fitness after a muscular issue. None of the four was ever likely to feature tonight.
The other three are disciplinary rather than medical. Arda Guler, Eduardo Camavinga and Bernardo Silva are all serving European suspensions carried into this campaign. That is precisely why Tchouameni’s fitness has been the most-watched item at Valdebebas all week: without him, Mourinho’s midfield thins out to club captain Federico Valverde and very little else with real European mileage behind it.
To fill the numbers, three players have been promoted from the academy. Mourinho has leaned on the Castilla ranks more than once already this season, and a matchday-one list stripped of seven senior names was always going to send him back there.
What it means for Tuesday night
Madrid arrive at the Bernabeu off the back of their first defeat of the season at La Cartuja, a result Mourinho spent Monday’s press conference relitigating — the penalty decision above all. He was blunt about what he wants in Europe. “I want to win. I could say I want to play well, but I don’t want to play well like against Betis and lose,” he said.
Inter, managed by Mourinho’s own treble winner Cristian Chivu, travel in form and level at the top of Serie A, though they are without Federico Dimarco. Lautaro Martinez leads the line and has already made clear the Italian champions are not coming to admire the surroundings. Full details on timings and coverage are in our Real Madrid vs Inter kick-off time and TV guide.
Kick-off at the Santiago Bernabeu is 21:00 CEST. Mourinho has three more bodies than he feared, seven fewer than he would like, and a European night at this stadium he has waited 13 years to have back.
