Real Madrid's Dramatic Win Under José Mourinho

Real Madrid needed every second of José Mourinho’s first league game in charge. They used almost all of them.

At the RCDE Stadium, Jude Bellingham’s head and a debutant’s poacher’s instinct dragged Madrid to a dramatic 2-1 win over Espanyol, a result that looked anything but certain for long stretches.

Bellingham struck first. Nine minutes in, the England midfielder rose above everyone to meet a superbly delivered Arda Guler free-kick, guiding his header beyond Marko Dmitrovic. It was a classic Bellingham goal: timing, conviction, and a sense that he owns the big moments.

Espanyol looked shaken. Madrid’s press pinned them back, forced rushed clearances, and gave the visitors a grip that felt suffocating. Yet the first warning that this would not be straightforward came from distance. Clemens Riedel stepped onto a loose ball from 30 yards and unleashed a rocket that forced Thibaut Courtois into a sharp, two-handed stop.

That effort changed the mood. A brief stoppage to treat a cut above Dean Huijsen’s eye gave the hosts a breather, and they used it well. Lines tightened. Passes started to stick. Madrid’s early control began to fray.

On the half-hour, Espanyol struck with a goal of real craft. Javi Hernandez sliced through Madrid down the left, wriggling to the byline before cutting the ball back with precision. Alex Calatrava arrived in stride and swept his finish past Courtois. The stadium erupted; Madrid, suddenly, looked rattled.

The equaliser knocked Mourinho’s side out of rhythm. Simple passes went astray, the press lost its bite, and Espanyol sensed vulnerability. They should have gone in ahead. A teasing cross found Roberto Fernandez unmarked in front of a gaping goal, but his header lacked conviction and drifted wide, a huge let-off for the visitors.

Kylian Mbappé, making his league bow under Mourinho, spent much of the night in a duel with Dmitrovic. The Serbian goalkeeper repeatedly frustrated the Frenchman, first spreading himself brilliantly to block a close-range effort with his legs, then getting down sharply to smother a low drive. Every Mbappé burst seemed to end with the same outcome: Dmitrovic standing tall.

Mourinho, never one to simply watch a game drift, turned to his bench. On came record signing Yan Diomande, tasked with injecting pace and direct running into a flagging attack. The change almost paid off instantly. A deflected cross broke kindly to Federico Valverde on the edge of the area, and his thunderous strike cannoned off the outside of the post with Dmitrovic beaten.

The pressure climbed. So did Bellingham. From a Guler corner, he climbed highest again and powered another header toward goal, only to see it crash against the crossbar. Madrid were getting closer, but the ball refused to cross the line.

As the minutes slipped away, their attacks grew more desperate. Ten minutes from time, Mbappé summed up the frustration, catching a half-volley awkwardly and sending it skewing harmlessly toward the corner flag. For Espanyol, every Madrid misfire felt like another step toward a precious point.

Then came stoppage time. Then came Espi.

In the first minute of added time, chaos in the Espanyol box followed another crowded Mbappé foray. The ball broke loose, bodies scattered, and Espi reacted first, slamming his finish past Dmitrovic. One swing of the boot, and Madrid’s stuttering opener turned into a trademark Mourinho late steal.

The whistle confirmed more than just three points. Real Madrid extended their run of unbeaten opening La Liga fixtures to 18 straight seasons. Mourinho, meanwhile, preserved his remarkable personal streak: seven wins from seven in managerial league debuts.

The performance showed the work still ahead to knit Mbappé, Diomande and the rest of this reshaped side into something fluent. The result showed something else: Mourinho hasn’t lost that old, infuriating, irresistible habit of winning when the clock is almost done.