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Features Five takeaways from Real Madrid’s pre-season under Jose Mourinho Jose Mourinho’s pre-season at Real Madrid has been ongoing for a long time, but the manager will really count his pre-season only from when the internationals began to return to his dynamics. The core of the team rolled back in instalments, the latest of which arrived last week, and Mourinho has thus had just over a week with some of the big names of his project including Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and others. All in all, Los Blancos played five pre-season friendlies of which they won four and drew only the game against Fiorentina. They scored 12 goals in that duration and kept two clean sheets. Over the past month, Mourinho’s ideas have begun to take shape, and the world has got a sneak peek of what to expect from the new manager through his training ideas and on-field dynamics. Madrid Universal brings you five takeaways from Real Madrid’s pre-season under Jose Mourinho. Heavy importance on physical preparation The new manager’s training sessions have been described as gruelling, unforgiving and harsh on players, for Mourinho prioritises improving the team from a fitness and physical preparation standpoint. Over the past two seasons, Los Blancos’ fitness and physical status took a turn for the worse and the result was visible on the field as the team was often outrun by inferior opposition. It is now a matter of paramount importance under the new coach. Mourinho aims to make Real Madrid a unit who are physically imposing and capable of outlasting opponents in late-game scenarios. It will not only help prevent injuries but also form a clear tactical identity that the manager stands for. Carlos Espi: The surprise package making an instant impact Kylian Mbappe may well be one of the best centre-forwards in world football, but Mourinho always had it clear that he required a physical box presence lending profile in attack. Carlos Espi has stepped exactly into that void. As a player with a dominant physique, good aerial presence and serving as a classical focal point centre-forward, the player has come off the bench to make some useful cameos that suggest Mourinho will love him. In the four pre-season friendlies he participated in, the youngster scored two goals and his 45 minutes against Schalke were particularly impressive as he showed great movement in the box and a killer instinct. Further, Mourinho’s system is known as one which rewards strikers who hold up the ball and can compete physically with defenders, making Espi the perfect fit for the dynamic. He may not be a starter, but he will have a massive role in the coming campaign – much like Joselu did during his time at the club. Bernardo Silva will be key in midfield Bernardo Silva spent the prime years of his career playing as an attacking midfielder and a presence who directly contributed to the final third. His role at Real Madrid, however, is set to be very different. Mourinho has used the Portuguese star in a central orchestration role, utilising his press resistance, ball retention and tactical discipline to instil the two components Real Madrid are lacking through the middle – creativity and control. Silva is thus poised to play in a deeper midfield role than he is accustomed to, and will likely play as a holding midfielder alongside Aurelien Tchouameni or Federico Valverde. Given his experience, comfort on the ball and superior ability to dictate play, however, he will be one of the non-negotiables in the department and is set for a massive role in the season ahead. His ability to integrate with his teammates and control games from the middle of the park will eventually be what drives Real Madrid’s dominance over the ninety minutes. A long way to go from last season’s troubles A lot of Real Madrid’s issues from last season directly had to do with the superstar culture and lack of a level playing ground within the dressing room. The idea of bringing in Mourinho was to ensure players stay grounded and work for the team The pre-season, however, has shown that the problems are far more deep-rooted than appears to the eye and that changing old habits is anything but easy. In the game against Schalke where the big names returned, Kylian Mbappe was often seen losing possession and making no effort whatsoever to track back and help in defence. His lack of defensive commitment, thus, does not appear to have changed. Concurrently, Jude Bellingham, was once again seen to cut out a frustrated figure just as he has so often in recent times. He has got into trouble repeatedly for his on-field frustrations, but the discipline does not seem to have been instilled in him yet. The same stands for Vinicius Jr. who has always been one to get involved with the fans, and he again did the same in the recent friendly. One aspect that Mourinho must understand, thus, is that there is still a long way to go on certain fronts. Old habits, after all, die hard. A full new-look defence Last but not least, the biggest upgrade in the squad under Mourinho is undoubtedly the restructuring of the defence through new summer signings, and all the new arrivals have shown their class so far. Denzel Dumfries has stood out as a defensively superior option to Trent Alexander-Arnold and the manager is already said to be considering starting the new signing as his starting right-back for the league opener. Ibrahime Konate and Marc Cucurella, meanwhile, made their debuts for the club against Schalke and both dished out strong performances that make them contenders to be starters. As the start of the season approaches, Real Madrid have a new-look defence which even kept a clean sheet last night in the final pre-season friendly. There is, thus, reason to be optimistic about the defensive upgrade. Features Three talking points ahead of Schalke vs Real Madrid Just over a week remains for Real Madrid’s first official game of the new season and they will take on Espanyol in their La Liga curtain-raiser. Ahead of that big clash, however, the club do have one final pre-season friendly scheduled for tomorrow evening, and it will be against FC Schalke. The past week has been a critical one for Jose Mourinho and Co. as they finally welcomed back the World Cup heroes and completed their squad for the new season. With Real Madrid’s transfer window also likely done, the manager now has a full-strength dressing room at his disposal and the game against Schalke will be the first of a new era in that sense. Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Schalke vs Real Madrid. The big names return Real Madrid’s pre-season campaign so far has revolved around academy players, non-internationals and internationals who returned home early after suffering heartbreak at the FIFA World Cup. While some names like Federico Valverde, Arda Guler and Denzel Dumfries have been available from relatively early in Mourinho’s dynamics, the bulk of the team’s core arrived much later. Vinicius Jr. and Endrick returned for Real Madrid’s latest friendlies, but other big names including Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham have come back only in recent days. The duo who made it to the World Cup semifinals returned to training earlier this week, and are in the squad for Real Madrid’s clash against Schalke tomorrow. All signs point to Mbappe playing some part in Gelsenkirchen in what comes as a massive boost for Mourinho’s plans. After all, the Frenchman is the centrepiece in attack and the team is, quite clearly, built around him. Also expected to feature is Bellingham. Despite uncertainty over his participation in recent days, word has it that the player is in top physical condition and will indeed be able to slot back in as a starting midfield option for Mourinho. A debut for Diomande Yan Diomande arrived in Madrid as a new signing ahead of Real Madrid’s friendly against Ferencvaros, but did not make it to the squad for that clash owing to a lack of match fitness. He was also not called up for the subsequent game vs Deportivo La Coruna. In under a week, however, the player has returned to speed and is now seen to be prepared to put on a Real Madrid shirt for the first time in a game. Needless to say, it will be a momentous occasion. Diomande’s big-money move this summer made him Real Madrid’s most expensive signing in history, and such a price tag undoubtedly arrives with a certain scale of expectations and a lot of pressure. The young winger is already said to be impressing in training, and all signs point to him starting against Schalke in the club’s final pre-season friendly. Needless to say, he will be eager to showcase some of his talent before the high-stakes games arrive. More importantly, it will be interesting to see Diomande’s chemistry with the likes of Mbappe, Bellingham and others, for that could well dictate how the player’s first season at the club will progress. The new-look defence completed Real Madrid’s summer transfer window largely revolved around defensive signings, and it has been clear from day one that Jose Mourinho’s focus was on the backline. The club went all-out in making signings for the defence, bringing in Ibrahima Konate, Denzel Dumfries and Marc Cucurella to Valdebebas in a matter of weeks. So far, only the Dutch star has made his debut for Real Madrid and has already impressed with his quality and defensive resilience. Konate and Cucurella, however, are yet to make their debuts. Having returned to the club’s pre-season camp earlier this week, both stars have been called up for the friendly tomorrow and are very likely to receive their debuts in the team’s final pre-season clash. It will thus be a momentous occasion for both Konate and Cucurella. The former will look to convince the manager of his quality and stake a claim for a starting spot while the latter will look to prove why he is a deserved World Champion and starter for Real Madrid. At some point in the game, it is very likely that Dumfries, Konate and Cucurella share the field at the back and that Real Madrid see an almost completely new defensive line fielded under the new manager.