Last Friday (local time), Jose Mourinho had his first friendly match to prepare for the new season. This is a closed match so the media was only able to work for more than 20 minutes at the Alfredo Di Stefano stadium at the Valdebebas training center. The final result, Los Blancos won minimally against Alcorcon, a team playing in the Spanish third division.
The only goal scored from the penalty spot was scored by young talent Daniel Yanez, who is currently under contract with the Castilla Academy. Yanez himself was also the one who brought the penalty after being fouled in the penalty area.
In this match, Jose Mourinho arranged the squad according to a 4-2-3-1 formation with Andriy Lunin in goal. The defense includes Trent Alexander-Arnold, Raul Asencio, Dean Huijsen and Alvaro Carreras. The central midfield pair is Eduardo Camavinga and young player Jorge Cestero. Arda Guler plays in the "number 10" position. Franco Mastantuono and Gabri Valero take on the two wings. Gonzalo Garcia is the highest player in the attack.
Thus, among the 12 academy players promoted to the first team from last week, only 2 people were started from the beginning, Cestero and Valero. In the second half, Mourinho changed almost the entire squad and reserved positions on the field for the remaining players of the Castilla academy as well as the Real Madrid U19 team.
There are 13 players who are busy with breaks after the World Cup and cannot participate in this gathering including Thibaut Courtois, Denzel Dumfries, Antonio Rudiger, Ibrahima Konate, Marc Cucurella, Aurelien Tchouameni, Jude Bellingham, Fede Valverde, Bernardo Silva, Brahim Diaz, Vinicius Junior, Endrick and Kylian Mbappe. Those who are on long-term leave due to injury such as Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy and Rodrygo will also not play.
On Jose Mourinho's side, the Portuguese coach showed inspiration when he and his students had their first match, even if it was just a friendly match. The "Special One" and his colleagues warmed up the players and watched each person closely. When the match started, the 63-year-old coach just sat on the coaching chair and observed very carefully.
The most notable highlight in this match in more than 20 minutes of media coverage was the role of Arda Guler. The Turkish midfielder is still the core, directly launching attacks and supporting teammates. He plays like a true attacking midfielder and is increasingly wanting to play the role of a leader as Xabi Alonso once trusted.
Before Yanez scored from the penalty spot, Guler had a similar opportunity in the early minutes, unfortunately he failed to convert.
Real Madrid's playing style in the first minutes still focused on pushing the ball to the two wings to take advantage of the speed of the strikers. After the final whistle sounded, those who watched the full match recounted that Real Madrid still had many mistakes in controlling the ball and defending. However, this is understandable when the team has just returned to concentration and does not yet have the strongest force.
After the recent friendly match, the question that many Real Madrid fans are interested in is why Jose Mourinho has not yet been officially launched by the club? Many people expect it to come after the strategic meeting on June 9, with the participation of club big bosses such as CEO Jose Angel Sanchez and scout head Juni Calafat.
