Matchday: Three Straight Wins and 10 Goals — Mourinho Brings the Magic Back to the Bernabeu

Mourinho's second spell at Real Madrid has started strongly. In the first two league rounds, Mourinho's side defeated Espanyol 2-1 away and Real Sociedad 4-1 at home. In the third round, the Galacticos swept Malaga 4-0 at home, maintaining their fierce attacking output while also recording their first clean sheet of the league campaign.

The magic from the Special One! Mourinho's clever move unlocks Bellingham, who becomes a major attacking weapon again.

When Mourinho's return to Real Madrid was officially announced, there were doubts about the former elite manager. After all, Mourinho had been away from top clubs and even the major European leagues for some time, raising questions about whether he could take charge of a giant club again. Last season, Real Madrid went through two underwhelming coaches, Alonso and Arbeloa, while frequent dressing-room controversies also emerged. Mourinho's takeover began with an extremely difficult situation.

However, compared with Alonso's possession football and Arbeloa's unclear style, Mourinho has brought his classic counter-attacking football, which is also highly suitable for Real Madrid, back to the Bernabeu. Mbappe and Bellingham, two star players who were described as almost competing against each other last season, have gradually formed a partnership on the pitch.

For Bellingham, Mourinho did not continue Alonso's arrangement. The English star no longer takes on heavy midfield pressing and linking duties, instead making more runs into the penalty area. Real Madrid's first goal in this match perfectly displayed Bellingham's qualities: after Mbappe's first central drive was stopped, Bellingham immediately followed up, won possession, powered past several defenders, and scored from a tight angle near the right byline to open the scoring. Bellingham has recorded two goals and two assists in three league matches, approaching the form he showed after joining in the 2023-24 season when he scored four goals and provided one assist in his first three games. He is also Real Madrid's first player since then to contribute to four goals in the opening three matches.

3-0 after 30 minutes! Mourinho's Real Madrid set a seven-year club record — who says Mourinho cannot attack?

If unlocking Bellingham came at the expense of Mbappe, then Mourinho's ability to adapt his tactics would not be that of a great manager. Mbappe's biggest criticism last season was that when teammates created breakthroughs in areas of the pitch, he often was not positioned where he should be for a finish, preferring instead to stay around the edge of the penalty area. Fans therefore nicknamed him the 'arc-top immortal.'

However, in the new season, people have noticed that under Mourinho, Mbappe has made more runs in behind and prefers to appear inside the penalty area. With Mbappe leading the line and attracting defensive attention, teammates behind him have more space, and Bellingham's first goal came directly from the Frenchman's initial surge. The second goal was similar: in the 25th minute, Mbappe received Diaz's through ball inside the box, turned after beating the offside trap, and forced the goalkeeper to spill the shot, allowing Bellingham to rise unmarked and head in the rebound. The unfortunate part was that the ball was accidentally cleared onto the goalkeeper and went into the net, turning Bellingham's brace into an own-goal situation.

In the 30th minute, Mbappe finally scored his own goal. Receiving a direct pass at the edge of the penalty area, the Frenchman moved the ball to the right and immediately turned toward goal. Arnold understood the move, sent a first-time cross across the face of goal, and Mbappe calmly finished to score again. This was Mbappe's 68th goal involvement in 68 La Liga appearances, at least 19 ahead of other players during the same period. It was also Mbappe's first goal against Malaga. In the league, Mbappe has faced 23 teams and scored against 22 of them, with Elche the only exception. For Real Madrid, leading 3-0 after 30 minutes was their fastest La Liga three-goal lead since November 9, 2019, when Zinedine Zidane was the coach.

The stoppage-time goal was the ultimate display of Mourinho's counter-attacking football: Real Madrid won the ball in their own half, Vinicius turned without stopping the ball and passed to Guler, who drove quickly through the center to the edge of the box before playing a diagonal pass to the left. Vinicius sent a cutback from near the byline, and Guler followed up to score into an empty net. From winning possession to scoring, Real Madrid used only three players and four touches, completing the move in 12 seconds.

The full-match statistics also show that although Real Madrid only led Malaga 19-14 in shots, they dominated in key areas: shots on target were 8-1, expected goals were 2.40-0.72, and clear scoring chances were 4-0. Mourinho's Real Madrid demonstrated efficiency above all else.

Three straight wins and 10 goals at the start — do Real Madrid have a more than 50% chance of winning the title? Mourinho: A 1-0 win would also make me happy.

After this match, Real Madrid achieved three wins from their first three La Liga games and scored 10 goals. According to statistics, scoring 10 goals in the opening three rounds is something Real Madrid have achieved for the first time since Ronaldo left. This is also the 10th time Real Madrid have started a La Liga season with three wins and at least 10 goals. Of the previous nine occasions, they won the title five times, finished runners-up three times, and placed third once. The Galacticos have made an excellent start to the new season.

But Mourinho remains Mourinho. Besides goals, defense is also one of the things he values most. 'If people understand high-level football, they should also enjoy the second half. You can see how a team works hard defensively. Football is not only about enjoying the beauty of goals, but also going home thinking that we are a whole. We have scored 10 goals in three matches, but in some games we will win 1-0, and we will be satisfied with that as well.'

(Original article by Wang Douhua, Sohu Sports)