Mourinho's Madrid already chasing after derby defeat
Jose Mourinho is back at Real Madrid and already playing catch-up.
Seven games into his second spell, Madrid sit fourth in La Liga, Spain's top division, six points behind defending champions Barcelona. The gap widened after a 2-1 derby defeat away to Atletico Madrid.
Mourinho returned in summer 2026, 13 years after his first departure, on a three-year contract BBC Sport. He was brought back after two seasons without a trophy. At 63, he has been asked to restore both results and swagger.
Barcelona have set a brutal pace. They have won all seven opening league games and scored 31 goals, with Raphinha claiming 12 of them. Atletico are second and Real Betis third, both five points behind Barcelona. Madrid are one place further back.
Against Atletico, Mourinho paired Aurelien Tchouameni with Federico Valverde in central midfield and pushed Jude Bellingham further forward. Bernardo Silva came on for only the final eight minutes.
The derby turned early in the second half when defender Dean Huijsen was sent off. Vinicius Jr was withdrawn shortly afterwards. Mourinho put much of the defeat down to two earlier challenges that went unpunished: a studs-up tackle by Cristian Romero on Bellingham, and a foul by Lee Kang-in on Valverde.
He arrived at his post-match news conference with printouts of the incidents and claimed Atletico should have had two players sent off. Atletico later hit back at his complaints about the refereeing BBC Sport.
Madrid now have time to regroup. They do not play again until hosting Villarreal on 10 October, then travel to Barcelona two weeks later after the international break. History gives them one example to cling to. The only time they have overturned a six-point deficit to Barcelona at the top was under Fabio Capello in 2006-07.
What makes this stand out is the contrast. Mourinho made his name with fast starts and loud certainty. This time the loudest noise is coming from Barcelona’s attack, and the next loud moment is El Clasico itself. For neutrals, that is perfect. For Madrid, it is already close to must-win.
