Thibaut Courtois Returns to Valdebebas as Mourinho's Madrid Seeks Trophy Revival

The countdown has started in Madrid. In roughly two weeks, Real Madrid will walk out for their first game of the 2026-27 season, a matchday 2 La Liga trip to Espanyol, with a weight they are not used to carrying: two straight seasons without a single trophy.

Jose Mourinho knows exactly what that means.

The Portuguese coach has spent the opening weeks of preseason sharpening a squad that still looks incomplete, not in numbers but in presence. A core group only finished their World Cup duties recently, and their delayed holidays have pushed back their return to club work. Kylian Mbappé, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Ibrahima Konaté and Marc Cucurella are among the final names yet to report. They are expected back next week, when Mourinho will finally have the full group in his hands.

One key figure is already in the building, though.

Thibaut Courtois has returned to Valdebebas. The Belgian goalkeeper is back on the training pitches, easing his way into club work after a World Cup that ended with a muscle injury in the quarter-final defeat to Spain. The problem looked worrying at first, but it has not developed into anything serious, and Courtois has been cleared to step up his workload.

For now, he is doing that alone.

While the main squad has travelled to Hungary for their second preseason friendly, against Ferencváros, Courtois has stayed behind in Madrid. He is not part of the group working under Mourinho on match preparation; instead, he is following an individual plan at the training complex. The only other first-team player at Valdebebas is new signing Yan Diomande, who is also working away from the travelling party.

The picture is a familiar one: a Real Madrid squad spread across continents, a manager juggling fitness, late returns and tactical work, and Courtois quietly going about the business of getting ready.

Once the competitive games start, there will be nothing quiet about his role.

For several seasons, Courtois has been the safety net and the springboard, the player who turns fragile leads into wins and chaotic nights into statements. That responsibility will only grow in a campaign where Real Madrid are under pressure to reclaim their status, both in La Liga and in Europe, after two barren years that have tested the club’s patience and pride.

Mourinho’s Madrid will again lean heavily on the Belgian. His leadership in the dressing room and his command of the penalty area remain central to how this team wants to defend, how it wants to suffer, and how it wants to counter-punch. When the rest of the World Cup returnees finally clock in next week and the full squad begins to resemble the side that will face Espanyol, Courtois is expected to slot straight back into his usual place: undisputed No 1, cornerstone of the project.

Real Madrid enter 2026-27 almost on edge, desperate to turn frustration into silverware. Courtois, back on the grass at Valdebebas, looks set to stand at the heart of that mission once again.