José Mourinho Begins Second Era at Real Madrid with First Training Session
José Mourinho was back on the Valdebebas pitches on Monday morning, 13 July 2026, starting his second life at Real Madrid not with fireworks, but with thermometers and treadmills.
Before a ball was struck, the day began at the Clínica Sanitas with the usual medical examinations, the Portuguese overseeing the process as the new project moved from boardroom planning to flesh-and-blood reality. By 17:00, he had his first training session as Madrid manager in more than a decade – though not yet with the full cast that will define his tenure.
A skeleton squad for Day One
The opening session was intentionally lean. The World Cup has carved a hole through pre-season, and Madrid are no exception.
Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Jr and Thibaut Courtois – the headline names of this new galáctico blend – are still on international duty or on post-tournament breaks. They, and others in the same situation, will drip-feed back into Valdebebas over the coming weeks.
So Mourinho’s first real look at his squad came through a narrower lens. On the pitch were Eduardo Camavinga, Franco Mastantuono, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen, among others, the first group to feel the intensity of his methods at close quarters.
For now, the numbers will be padded out by Castilla players. It is a practical solution, but also a snapshot of the strange, compressed calendar: a superstar squad on paper, a mixed, developmental group in training bibs on Day One.
Mourinho will have to build his impressions in stages. The full mosaic of his Madrid will not be visible for weeks.
A club searching for stability
His return comes against a backdrop of churn. Mundo Deportivo underline how quickly the previous projects unravelled: Xabi Alonso lasted around a year, Álvaro Arbeloa barely six months after stepping up from youth duties.
The message from the hierarchy is blunt: enough turbulence. This squad has the talent, but the recent conversion rate into trophies has not matched the individual quality on the books.
Mourinho has not walked into this blind. Work on the new era began the moment Florentino Pérez secured re-election and confirmed him as coach. The Portuguese has been sketching out plans, assessing profiles, shaping his backroom team. Monday simply marked the moment when those plans met the grass.
Reports flagged by Football España have already pointed to early recruitment moves and adjustments among his coaching staff, hints of how he intends to bend this group to his image.
The second Mourinho cycle in Madrid will not be a nostalgic remake. The tools are different, the dressing room younger, the expectations just as unforgiving.
Transfers, timing and the wait for the full cast
For now, there is no grand unveiling on the calendar. Mundo Deportivo report that a formal press presentation for Mourinho has yet to be scheduled, an unusual pause at a club that normally revels in its own theatre.
The transfer market, though, is very much alive. Both the entrance and exit doors remain open, even if the spine of the squad is described as broadly settled. Madrid know where their power lies; they also know the squad still needs to be tuned to the manager’s demands.
Real judgement, though, cannot be passed on a July session with half a team.
The real test will start when Bellingham strides back into midfield, when Mbappé and Vinícius Jr take up their positions high on the pitch, when Courtois returns to anchor everything behind them. Only then will Mourinho’s second Madrid begin to reveal its true face – and show whether this era finally brings the sustained dominance the club has been chasing.
