Mourinho loses his battle with the Real Madrid dressing room

Seven matches, six of them in La Liga and one in the Champions League, were enough to convince Real Madrid's fans that nothing has changed. Mourinho is no longer the man we knew during his previous spell. At 63, the Portuguese coach cuts a calmer figure, having turned into a fierce defender of the worst version everyone remembers of Vinicius at the Santiago Bernabeu. 

In the press room, he showed a degree of coolness towards Arda Guler, the only player who makes the team function in a harmonious and natural way. It is no secret that Arda represents the weakest link compared to Vinicius.

Sources inside the club report that Rodri's move to Barcelona hit the coach hard. He spoke twice with the World Cup-winning Spain captain.

Their first conversation came after Mourinho considered the player's arrival a done deal, given the immediate understanding between them. But Real Madrid's officials slowed the negotiations with Manchester City, so the player decided to tip the scales in favour of Barcelona's interest.

Sport noted: "The problem is that the Real Madrid of 2026-2027 is repeating the mistakes and habits of the team that has not lifted any title for two seasons. Mourinho arrived selling promises of results and a victorious Real Madrid, but the truth is that he suffered his first defeat quickly in Seville against a lukewarm Real Betis, alongside a complete absence of any clear footballing vision."

Mourinho promised a side hungrier for victories. The reality is different. His team retreats into its own area within a low defensive block, a style the Portuguese himself admitted at Valdebebas bothers him, dropping back to live off counter-attacks even at the Bernabeu, where he ended up waiting for the final whistle against Inter Milan in the Champions League after winning thanks to glaring errors from the Italians and miraculous saves from Thibaut Courtois.

This is Mourinho's Real Madrid, a team that does not even defend well despite the Portuguese coach's insistence on defensive tactical work and the commitment of his attacking players to pressing. The truth is beyond dispute. Espanyol, Real Sociedad, Real Betis, Inter Milan, Rayo Vallecano and Elche have all scored against him, and he kept a clean sheet only against Malaga. Every team creates chances against him, and in every match Courtois produces decisive saves.

His relationship with the stars never reaches the brotherly treatment Ancelotti offered his players. At the same time, it sits very far from the natural demands that ended with Xabi Alonso's sacking.

Vinicius's ball recoveries even had Mourinho celebrating as though they were goals. "Whoever gives everything he has is not asked to give more," he said.

The Brazilian is the team's second most-used player in terms of minutes, with 511, despite scoring only one goal in six matches. Top of that list is Kylian Mbappe, who seems more preoccupied with the Ballon d'Or and settling scores in the press room.

The Santiago Bernabeu crowd point to Kylian as one of the reasons Real Madrid have not won a single title over the past two years. Mourinho sees it differently. "A player who scores 40 goals cannot be a problem," he said.

One final warning sign lays bare the complacency of a group grown used to comfort: this team stops working when a match looks won. Second halves are where it bites. Real Madrid handed Real Betis a lifeline after squandering first-half chances and paid the price with defeat. They should have buried Espanyol early too, only for that game to end with a Real Madrid winner in stoppage time through Carlos Espí.

Elche brought more of the same. So did the visit of Inter Milan to the Bernabéu, where Real Madrid led 2-0 at the break before the Italians came within a whisker of levelling after the restart.

Sport put it this way: "Mourinho, in his second spell with Real Madrid, acts with greater cunning than direct statements. After the defeat to Real Betis, he hinted that the Andalusian side's fans had supported their team throughout the ninety minutes and were not whistling in disapproval against it, in a clear message to Real Madrid's fans at the Bernabéu."

At Elche, he issued a warning that carried its own logic, pointing out that the team had wasted numerous chances that could have settled the result in the first half.

He alternates between these messages and a defeatist tone, and it has left Real Madrid's fans frustrated even with the season barely under way.

This is how Real Madrid arrive at the derby, a game that could prove a turning point, or the spark that ignites a situation similar to last season's under Xabi Alonso.

That defeat at the Metropolitano triggered Jude Bellingham's first clash with coach Xabi Alonso. On the very next trip, to Kazakhstan, Fede Valverde erupted in the press room while Vinicius made his displeasure clear after being substituted.

None of that looks likely to happen with Mourinho. But the fear the dressing room felt towards the Portuguese on his arrival has softened into mere respect. There is no trace of the strict, controversial coach we knew during his first spell.

So the stars carry on doing as they please, deciding the fate of matters as they wish. Vinicius even assumed last night, through his social media accounts, that he would feature at the Metropolitano, after a dreadful game against Elche.

Plenty of reasons exist not to include him. But the current Mourinho is no longer the former Mourinho.