Real Madrid's great dilemma: Mourinho faces down a spectre that toppled Ancelotti and Alonso

Former Real Madrid players Alvaro Benito and Rafa Alkorta pinpointed the real challenge facing the Portuguese coach during comments on the "El Larguero" programme on Spanish radio station "Cadena SER": managing ego and pride.

According to Benito, Mourinho arrived at the Spanish club at the peak of his coaching career, a far cry from his current situation. "But he is a coach with great abilities, and he knows better than anyone else what the team's problem has been in recent years in terms of defensive and offensive organisation," he said.

The starting line-up, name by name, is "extremely competitive", Benito added. He stressed that the Portuguese coach's challenge lies in getting all the stars to understand one another and cooperate on the pitch.

Tactical discipline and commitment are the only way to keep the team from falling, Alvaro Benito emphasised. "The team is equipped to win everything, but to achieve that they will have to meet the commitments that Mourinho will demand of them," he said.

Those commitments, along with the defensive and physical effort, will be the key to "avoiding falling into the same trap again", he warned.

The Spanish club cannot carry on down the same road, Benito explained. "In this way it is very difficult to succeed in beating very good teams."

Rafa Alkorta, for his part, stressed that success has little to do with tactical diagrams and everything to do with leadership: "Beyond the tactical style, the key lies in the management to change the course of a team that for two years has relied on individuals more than being a complete group."

Reconciling "this ego and this pride" is "the most difficult thing", Alkorta explained, and none of the previous coaches managed it.

Still, he backed the Portuguese to crack it. "He is the only one capable of making them understand that solidarity is not a trivial matter, but a necessary element to win the league and cup titles."

Benito warned that this squad hands Real Madrid their toughest man-management test yet. "With Bellingham, Diomande, Mbappe and Vini, you have four attackers who are untouchable. In principle, it is a team liable to break. And who holds the balance? It must be everyone."

Paris Saint-Germain offered Benito his model. "It has shattered every legend in football, because they play with Vitinha, Joao Neves and Fabian, with two very attacking full-backs, and the team does not break because everyone presses and everyone works."

Real Madrid's dressing room was perfectly harmonious before Kylian Mbappé arrived at the Santiago Bernabéu. That changed over the last two seasons. An undeclared power struggle with Vinícius Júnior has taken hold, and it is clear to everyone watching from the outside.

The rivalry between Vinícius Júnior and Kylian Mbappé has numerous strands, starting with the left-wing position the Frenchman gave up to his Brazilian teammate when he switched to the striker's role. The biggest crisis revolves around identity: who is the number one man at Real Madrid?

Before Mbappé joined, Vinícius was the club's primary bet for the future, and the management built the team around him. Mbappé pulled the rug out from under him over two seasons thanks to his prolific goalscoring, which partially pushed the Brazilian away from centre stage.

Vinícius tried to level the scales when he negotiated his contract renewal with Real Madrid. He stipulated that he receive the same salary in order to agree to stay at the Bernabéu, plus a renewal bonus similar to the one his French teammate pocketed when he joined for free from Saint-Germain.

The heated conflict does not end there. It extends to the competition over penalty kicks, which boost the goal tally and may sway the calculations of the Ballon d'Or should Real Madrid win the Champions League title in a given season.

Both men also shirk their defensive duties. Neither Mbappé nor Vinícius presses or tracks back when Real Madrid lose the ball, and it is no secret to anyone. That failing hurts Real's balance, especially in the big matches.

You cannot separate Real Madrid's escalating crisis of arrogance from the absence of so many leaders inside the dressing room. It would have been hard to imagine Los Blancos falling into this fatal trap with Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Nacho Fernandez still at the Bernabeu.

Real have lost every one of those names now, and you can add Dani Carvajal to the list. From the old guard, only Thibaut Courtois remains, a man you can rely on to bring calm to the dressing room.

Here lies one of the ironies. Club captain Federico Valverde was at the centre of the team's biggest flashpoint last season, clashing with Aurelien Tchouameni, and he has a habit of overstepping the mark with teammates and opponents alike. His famous run-in with Alex Baena is proof enough.

Of the players to arrive recently, only Bernardo Silva ranks among the veterans capable of creating that calm inside the dressing room.