The trials are over. Now, in José Mourinho's words, comes the time for "hard work" and "good work", after Real Madrid played six friendlies to test their players before facing Espanyol in La Liga. The Whites completed their preparation unbeaten, with five wins and one draw, and clear signs of improvement. The feeling is positive, and so are the results and the numbers. Real Madrid kept clean sheets against Deportivo and Schalke, arriving at the Cornellà stadium having gone 243 consecutive minutes without conceding.
Despite all these indicators, Mourinho did not reveal all his cards, and indeed could not. Six players, nearly half the squad, got limited minutes in the last match in Germany, while another six are absent through injury. The six games left behind a set of certainties, alongside a number of question marks that Mourinho will try to settle at the start of the season, according to the Spanish newspaper "AS".
The attacking make-up stands out as one of the most notable features of this new Real Madrid. Mourinho adopted a 4-2-3-1, which, on the evidence so far, looks built to accommodate his four attacking pillars: Diomande, Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior and Kylian Mbappé. This quartet has not yet started together. Vinícius returned first, taking part in three friendlies, while his three teammates arrived over the past week. They only played together against Schalke.
In that match, we saw the three-man defensive line meant to protect Mbappé for 25 minutes. Diomande, Bellingham and Vinícius played together in Gelsenkirchen, but Carlos Espí took on the centre-forward role instead of the French striker. This system hands Mourinho a degree of tactical flexibility, and Bernardo Silva proved one of the key elements that helped him with it. At the start of the second half against Deportivo, the Portuguese coach tried three players in midfield: Camavinga, Valverde and Bernardo Silva, rotating the roles between attacking midfield and the left flank.
An open battle in the holding pair
Move to midfield and the biggest question still concerns the pair Mourinho will rely on in the holding role. The competition looks fierce between Tchouaméni, Valverde and Bernardo Silva for the two positions, with Camavinga as an additional option.
Camavinga's situation carries a clear paradox. He has become the fourth most-used player under Mourinho, but that owes much to the circumstances of preparation. His absence from the World Cup made him available from day one, unlike the other three. As for his level, rather than settling the debate that surrounded him last season, it kept the competition open.
Mourinho made several changes to the holding pair as the rest of the players joined up. He began preparations with Camavinga and Cestero against Alcorcón, then pushed Valverde alongside the French midfielder against Leganés, and stuck with that pair against Fiorentina and Ferencváros.
Against Deportivo, Camavinga and Bernardo Silva started, while Bernardo Silva and Valverde featured against Schalke. Tchouaméni, on the other hand, has not featured yet due to a thigh injury, and Thiago, the latest addition to the squad, is out with a left knee injury.
The defence has not revealed its final line-up
So far, Mourinho has not settled on his ideal defensive line-up, whether because of injuries or the late return of some players. At left-back, Cucurella, expected to be an undisputed starter, got only half an hour against Schalke. With his late arrival and Mendy's injury, Carreras got a bigger chance and became the most-used player at Real Madrid during preparation.
Down the right, Mourinho alternated between Trent and Dumfries, the Englishman playing 241 minutes against 239 for the Dutchman. These numbers may mislead when it comes to identifying the first choice, as the two shared 120 minutes on the pitch, in the first 75 minutes against Fiorentina and the second half against Deportivo.
Over that stretch, Trent played full-back while Dumfries occupied the winger's role, which reflects Mourinho's desire to exploit their versatility rather than confine them to a single position.
In central defence, injuries forced themselves on Mourinho's options. Militão is sidelined, with a return expected after the first international break, while Asencio only featured in training matches against Alcorcón and Leganés.
In their absence, Mourinho tried the Rüdiger and Huijsen pairing in the first half against Deportivo, repeated it in the second half against Schalke, and used Konaté alongside Huijsen for the first 45 minutes in Germany. Until Militão and Asencio return, the competition for the two central berths looks largely confined to Rüdiger, Huijsen and Konaté at the start of the season.
Courtois and the attacking quartet: Mourinho's most settled cards
By contrast, no question marks hang over the goalkeeping position, with Thibaut Courtois in fine form, while the attacking quartet of Diomande, Bellingham, Vinícius and Mbappé looks one of the most settled parts of Mourinho's project. What is also striking is the fine form of some of the supporting players.
Arda Güler has proven he can fill the playmaker role usually held by Bellingham, starting all six friendlies and providing two assists: the first for Valverde against Leganés, the second for Huijsen in Gelsenkirchen. Mourinho's system gives Güler a big chance to showcase his abilities in that position during the minutes Bellingham gets, which may make him one of the most important alternatives in the Portuguese coach's squad.
Brahim Díaz, too, now seems to have a defined role on the right wing when he comes on, after spending seasons drifting between positions in search of a fixed place in the 4-3-3. The biggest surprise came from Espí, who left a good impression during preparation.
Endrick, Mourinho's main striker before Mbappé's arrival, remains part of the calculations, having scored against Fiorentina. He, along with Espí, will have to share the limited minutes available behind the French star in attack.
Now the ball is in Mourinho's court. The Portuguese coach has had ample opportunity to assess a large number of his players, even if injuries and the late arrival of some deprived him of testing his ideal line-up in full. Six matches revealed many features of the new Real Madrid, but they did not settle everything.
The trials are over, and the hard work has begun. The first real answers will come on Saturday in Cornellà, when Real Madrid play their opening league match against Espanyol. Then Mourinho will begin to reveal the line-up he trusts for the new season.