José Mourinho Begins Second Era at Real Madrid

The second José Mourinho era at Real Madrid did not begin with fireworks or fanfare. It began with blood tests.

On Monday morning, 13 July 2026, the Portuguese coach officially stepped back into the job at Valdebebas, launching pre-season with a round of medical examinations at Clínica Sanitas before taking his first training session at 17:00. No presentation, no grand unveiling. Just Mourinho, a reduced group of players, and the sense that something significant is starting to move again in Chamartín.

A Skeleton Squad and a Waiting Game

Day one was deliberately stripped back. The World Cup has torn up the traditional pre-season script, and Madrid are no exception.

Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Jr, Thibaut Courtois and the rest of the international core are still on post-tournament leave, due to filter back on a staggered schedule. Their absence leaves Mourinho with a curious opening tableau: the shell of an elite squad, without many of its stars, and a manager trying to sketch out a plan while key pieces sit on another continent.

Those who did report for duty, though, give an early hint of the future spine. Eduardo Camavinga, Franco Mastantuono, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen were among the first to work directly under Mourinho, forming the initial group tasked with absorbing his demands, his intensity, his famously unforgiving standards.

To make up the numbers, the new coach will lean heavily on Castilla. Youngsters from the academy will pad out sessions, offering Mourinho a closer look at the club’s next generation while he waits for the full senior cast to reassemble. It is not the ideal start for a manager who thrives on control and detail, but it is the reality of a pre-season squeezed by a World Cup calendar.

The result is an opening week that feels more like an extended audition than the start of a finished product.

After the Turbulence, a Demanding Brief

Mourinho walks back into a club that has spent the past two years searching for stability and never quite finding it.

As Mundo Deportivo point out, Xabi Alonso’s project lasted only about a year before the club changed direction. Álvaro Arbeloa, promoted from youth-team duties, then provided barely six months of relative calm before his own departure. Two ideas, two coaches, and not enough trophies to justify either experiment in the eyes of a club built on silverware.

The message to Mourinho is brutally simple: turn this talent into titles. The squad has individual brilliance in almost every line, but the recent return on that investment has not matched Real Madrid’s expectations or self-image. Consistency, structure, and results are no longer abstract targets; they are the minimum requirement.

Crucially, Mourinho has not been idle while waiting for this first training session. Since Florentino Pérez secured re-election as club president and confirmed the Portuguese’s appointment, the coach has been shaping the project from behind the scenes. Monday did not mark the beginning of his work, only the moment when it left the planning room and hit the grass.

Reports from Football España have already flagged early recruitment moves and adjustments to the coaching staff, clear signs that Mourinho intends to put his imprint on the club’s daily life as quickly as the calendar allows.

Doors Open, Questions Pending

For all the symbolism of Mourinho’s return to the training pitch, some of the big-picture questions remain unanswered.

Mundo Deportivo note that a formal press presentation for the coach has yet to be scheduled, with no date confirmed. The usual theatre of the Bernabéu unveiling is on hold, as if the club prefers the coach to get his hands dirty first and talk later.

The transfer market, too, sits in a state of controlled tension. Both the entry and exit doors are open. The core of the squad is understood to be largely settled, but Madrid are not closing off possibilities. Opportunities could appear, unwanted offers could arrive, and Mourinho will have to weigh each one against the need for continuity he has been hired to restore.

For now, the judgements must wait. Any verdict on this second Mourinho cycle before Mbappé, Bellingham, Vinícius Jr and the rest of the international contingent return would be little more than guesswork. The true measure will come when the full squad is on the grass, when the tactical ideas harden into habits, and when the competitive fixtures start to test the promises of July.

On Monday at Valdebebas, though, the tone was set. No slogans, no drama. Just a demanding coach, a reduced group, and a club that has turned back to a familiar figure in search of something it has missed: a season in which Real Madrid look and feel like Real Madrid again.