Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad: Mourinho's Homecoming and Basque Ambitions

The Bernabeu lights go on again on Wednesday night. Real Madrid are back home, Jose Mourinho is back on the touchline, and Real Sociedad arrive hunting another upset in a stadium that still remembers their last great raid.

Kick-off is at 9pm local time in Madrid (19:00 GMT), with full buildup from Al Jazeera Sport from 16:00 GMT before live text commentary.

This is not just another early-season La Liga fixture. It’s the reigning Copa del Rey holders against a club that has gone two full campaigns without a major trophy. One side defending its newfound cup pedigree, the other desperate to avoid a third straight year of underachievement – something Madrid have not endured since 2006.

Mourinho’s second act begins with late drama

Mourinho’s second spell in charge of Real Madrid started the way his first often felt: tense, chaotic, and decided at the death.

Away at Espanyol on Saturday, Madrid needed a 90th-minute intervention from substitute Carlos Espi to escape with a 2-1 win. Jude Bellingham had opened the scoring in their La Liga opener, only for Alex Calatrava to haul the hosts level in Barcelona.

“I think that we deserved to win but that Espanyol didn’t deserve to lose,” Mourinho said afterwards, acknowledging the hosts’ cohesion after a summer without World Cup disruption.

Madrid’s bench told its own story. Mourinho unleashed two more new faces – record signing Yan Diomande and Marc Cucurella – on top of a star-studded XI. Yet it was Espi, reacting quickest to a loose ball in the box, who rescued the result.

It was a reminder: this is still a work in progress, even with all that firepower.

Mourinho’s early puzzle: stars, egos and a title race

Thirteen years after his first Madrid stint ended, Mourinho walks back into a club that has lost its grip on domestic dominance and its discipline in the dressing room. His task is blunt: reimpose order and stop Barcelona from completing a La Liga three-peat.

He did not ease himself in. At Espanyol, he started Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Bellingham together, while handing debuts to Bernardo Silva, Denzel Dumfries and Ibrahima Konate.

Bellingham, who dazzled in his first year in Spain before two flat, trophyless seasons, has been handed a roaming attacking midfield role. He justified it immediately, heavily involved before heading in from Arda Guler’s wickedly delivered free-kick.

Mbappe, La Liga’s top scorer in each of his two Madrid seasons, found space early on the right and forced a save, but never truly caught fire. On the left, Vinicius spent most of the evening being chopped down, drawing fouls and frustration rather than chances.

For Mourinho, it is clear: the talent is there. The chemistry, the balance, the control of emotions – that is where the real work lies.

Vinicius, provocation and protection

Mourinho, once football’s arch-provocateur, now finds himself calling for calm. Specifically, for Vinicius.

The Brazilian has become a lightning rod in Spain – targeted by opponents, clashing with players and supporters, and constantly on the edge of confrontation. At Espanyol, the pattern repeated: heavy treatment, angry reactions, flashpoints.

“There is on the field and off the field,” Mourinho said. He wants Vinicius to handle the insults from the stands better, as long as they are not racist or homophobic. Those, he made clear, are different and unacceptable. The regular abuse, he believes, is something the forward can learn to live with.

On the pitch, though, Mourinho pointed the finger elsewhere. The referees – “judges”, as he likes to call them – must protect both the players and the game, he argued, and manage the accumulation of fouls that so often sends Vinicius over the edge.

Their relationship carries baggage. Last season, when Mourinho was Benfica coach, he was criticised for questioning Vinicius’ behaviour after the Brazilian accused an opponent of racially abusing him in a Champions League match. Mourinho had suggested Vinicius provoked rivals with his celebrations.

Now, he admits the treatment Vinicius receives is different from that given to other players.

“It’s gone into a spiral in which the opponents know what they can do and what they can’t do,” he said. If players can keep provoking and fouling with cards arriving late, if there is room for “violence”, he added, it becomes a type of treatment he does not accept.

The challenge for Mourinho is clear: defend his star, calm him, and still harness the chaos that makes Vinicius so dangerous.

Sociedad’s slow start, brutal schedule

On the other side, Real Sociedad arrive with their own questions.

Their season opened with a 1-0 defeat at Real Betis, decided by Rodrigo Riquelme’s clean volley from a Cucho Hernandez cross. The game was tight, even, but it left Sociedad empty-handed.

The calendar has not been kind. Two away matches to start, after a summer heavily shaped by World Cup call-ups, is a rough introduction. That is amplified by last season’s numbers: just three wins in 19 league games on the road.

Still, this is a club that knows how to punch upwards. They lifted the Copa del Rey last season by beating Atletico Madrid, and they carry recent memories of hurting Real.

History at the Bernabeu: goals, shocks and scars

The last league meeting between these two sides ended 4-1 to Madrid. Vinicius Junior scored twice from the spot, with Gonzalo Garcia and Federico Valverde also on target. Mikel Oyarzabal had briefly levelled from the penalty spot, but Madrid were 3-1 up by half-time and never looked back.

Sociedad’s last win over Real came in May 2023, a 2-0 victory in San Sebastian. Takefusa Kubo and Ander Barrenetxea scored, either side of Dani Carvajal’s red card, to seal a controlled home performance.

The Bernabeu, though, has not always been a fortress against them. In February 2020, Sociedad stunned Real with a 4-3 Copa del Rey triumph. Martin Odegaard, now Arsenal captain, opened the scoring before an Alexander Isak brace made it 3-0 by the 56th minute. Marcelo hit back, Mikel Merino restored the three-goal cushion, and late strikes from Rodrygo and Nacho turned the closing minutes into a siege. Andoni Gorosabel’s sending-off only heightened the drama, but Sociedad held on.

Their last La Liga victory in Madrid came in January 2019, a 2-0 win built on Willian Jose’s opener and Ruben Pardo’s clincher, with Lucas Vazquez dismissed for Real.

Those nights feel distant when you scan the numbers. Sociedad have won just one of their last 20 league games at the Bernabeu. They have scored 19 times in that run but conceded 54, with Real taking 16 wins.

The supercomputer and the odds

The Opta supercomputer leans heavily towards the hosts. Real Madrid are given a 66 percent chance of victory; Sociedad just 15 percent, with the rest left to the draw.

History supports that. So does the talent on the pitch. But cup memories and those rare Bernabeu shocks will linger in the visiting dressing room.

Team news: Madrid

Real Madrid’s injury list still bites.

• Eder Militao (muscle)
• Rodrygo (knee)
• Raul Asencio (thigh)
• Ferland Mendy (hip)

Endrick (muscle), Thiago Pitarch (knee) and Aurelien Tchouameni (muscle) are doubts and could also miss the game.

Bellingham, who left the pitch at Espanyol with an ice pack on his ankle, is expected to be fit to start.

Predicted Real Madrid XI:

Courtois; Dumfries, Konate, Huijsen, Cucurella; Bernardo, Valverde; Guler, Bellingham, Vinicius; Mbappe.

Team news: Sociedad

For Real Sociedad, one familiar face to Madrid fans will not make it. Former Real full-back Alvaro Odriozola, now back at his boyhood club, remains sidelined with a long-term knee problem.

Pablo Marin (muscle), Jon Gorrotxategi (muscle) and Goncalo Guedes (muscle) all face late fitness checks.

Mikel Oyarzabal, a World Cup winner with Spain, started on the bench at Betis. He is expected to lead the line in Madrid.

Predicted Real Sociedad XI:

Remiro; Aramburu, Zubeldia, Martin, Gomez; Herrera, Soler; Kubo, Sucic, Barrenetxea; Oyarzabal.

Head-to-head

Across 158 meetings, Real Madrid have dominated: 91 wins to Sociedad’s 27.

The numbers say one thing. The Bernabeu noise, Mourinho’s homecoming, Sociedad’s memory of past shocks – they whisper something else.

Madrid are under pressure to reclaim their place at the top of Spain. Sociedad know exactly how it feels to leave this stadium with a season-defining win. Which story takes hold on Wednesday night?