Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad: Mourinho's Homecoming and a Quest for Respect

The Bernabeu lights go on again. Jose Mourinho walks out as Real Madrid coach once more. And Real Sociedad arrive with a recent taste of silverware and a long memory of famous nights in this stadium.

La Liga’s midweek headline act on Wednesday pairs the establishment giant desperate to end a trophy drought with last season’s Copa del Rey winners, who are tired of being treated as a supporting act.

Kickoff is at 9pm in Madrid (19:00 GMT), with Al Jazeera Sport on air from 16:00 GMT and live text commentary to follow.

Mourinho’s second coming starts with late drama

Mourinho’s new era began in classic Mourinho fashion: chaotic, tense, and decided in the 90th minute.

Real Madrid’s 2-1 win at Espanyol on Saturday was anything but routine. Jude Bellingham headed in the opener from an Arda Guler free-kick, only for Alex Calatrava to haul Espanyol level in Barcelona. The game drifted towards frustration and dropped points.

Then Carlos Espi pounced on a loose ball in the box in stoppage time and stole the win.

“I think that we deserved to win but that Espanyol didn’t deserve to lose,” Mourinho said afterwards, acknowledging the edge his side needed. Espanyol, he pointed out, had no World Cup hangover and looked like a team that had worked together for weeks. Madrid, by contrast, are still learning each other’s movements.

Mourinho unleashed the full star power: Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Bellingham. New signings Bernardo Silva, Denzel Dumfries and Ibrahima Konate all featured, with record recruit Yan Diomande and Marc Cucurella also introduced from the bench. The names scream dominance. The performance did not.

Bellingham, restored to an attacking midfield role with licence to roam, was Madrid’s sharpest weapon. The England international, brilliant in his first season but muted in the two that followed, looked liberated, constantly involved before guiding in Guler’s teasing delivery.

Mbappe, La Liga’s top scorer in each of his two seasons in Spain, found space early on the right but lacked his usual ruthlessness. One-on-one situations came and went without the net bulging. On the left, Vinicius drew foul after foul, but Espanyol’s rough treatment kept him on the periphery.

Mourinho got the win he needed, though. After two straight seasons without a major trophy – something Real have not endured since 2006 – style can wait. Results cannot.

Inside Mourinho’s challenge: control the room, stop the threepeat

Thirteen years after his first spell ended, Mourinho’s mission is blunt: regain control of a dressing room that slipped into chaos last season and stop Barcelona from marching to a La Liga threepeat.

He has a squad loaded with egos and expectations. Mbappe wants goals and glory. Vinicius wants freedom and protection. Bellingham wants to be the heartbeat again. Around them, Bernardo Silva and Guler need touches, Valverde demands intensity, and Konate must steady a defence that has lost Eder Militao to a muscle injury.

The Portuguese coach has already put his stamp on Bellingham’s role, pushing him higher up and trusting his instincts. The question now is whether he can do the same with the squad’s temperament.

No area tests that more than the handling of Vinicius.

Mourinho, Vinicius and the demand for protection

Mourinho has been many things in his career: provocateur, shield, lightning rod. Now he wants to be something else for Vinicius Junior – a protector and a guide.

The Brazilian was at the centre of several flashpoints at Espanyol, clashing with opponents and reacting to the crowd. Mourinho believes Vinicius is being targeted, but he also believes his forward must choose his battles more carefully.

“There is on the field and off the field,” he said. Abuse from the stands, he argued, if it is not racist or homophobic, is something Vinicius can handle better. The real responsibility, in Mourinho’s eyes, lies with the referees – or “judges”, as he prefers to call them – when it comes to repeated fouls and simmering frustration.

He wants officials to protect the game’s dribblers and entertainers. He wants Vinicius to control his reactions.

The relationship between the two is complicated by history. Last season, while coaching Benfica, Mourinho was criticised for his comments after Vinicius accused an opponent of racist abuse during a Champions League match. Mourinho, then solely focused on Benfica, suggested the Brazilian’s celebrations could incite rivals.

Now, at Madrid, he has shifted tone. He talks openly about the “difference in the treatment on the field towards Vinicius and towards other players”, and the way opponents have learned exactly how far they can push him.

“If the players can provoke and pressure Vini, either physically or with words, if the yellow card is only shown after 10 fouls, if there can be violence, then it’s a type of treatment that I don’t like,” he said.

On the training ground, he believes he can help with how Vinicius responds to fans. Inside the 90 minutes, with adrenaline surging and tackles flying, that’s a tougher task. Sociedad, who know how to disrupt rhythm, will test that dynamic immediately.

Sociedad’s tough start and stubborn habits

Real Sociedad arrive in Madrid with only one league game behind them – a 1-0 defeat at Real Betis. Rodrigo Riquelme’s neat volley from a Cucho Hernandez cross decided a tight, even contest.

The schedule has not been kind. Two away matches to open the season, after a summer disrupted by World Cup absences, is a demanding way to begin. It exposes a flaw from last year: Sociedad won just three of their 19 league games on the road.

Yet this is not a timid team. They are the reigning Copa del Rey champions, having beaten Atletico Madrid in last season’s final, and they have history at the Bernabeu that still stings for Real.

When Sociedad spoil the party in Madrid

Madrid’s most recent league meeting with Sociedad ended comfortably enough for the hosts: a 4-1 win last season. Vinicius struck twice from the spot, with Gonzalo Garcia and Federico Valverde also on target. Mikel Oyarzabal briefly levelled from the penalty spot, but Real led 3-1 by half-time and never looked back.

That is the version of this fixture Madrid want to remember. Sociedad have other memories.

They last beat Real in La Liga in May 2023, a 2-0 win in San Sebastian. Takefusa Kubo and Ander Barrenetxea scored on either side of Dani Carvajal’s red card, punishing Madrid’s indiscipline.

Their last victory at the Bernabeu came in the Copa del Rey in February 2020, a wild 4-3 quarterfinal that stunned the stadium. Martin Odegaard, now Arsenal captain, opened the scoring, Alexander Isak added a brace, and by the 56th minute Sociedad were 3-0 up. Marcelo pulled one back, Mikel Merino restored the three-goal cushion, and late goals from Rodrygo and Nacho turned the closing stages into a siege. Andoni Gorosabel’s sending-off left Sociedad clinging on with 10 men, but they survived.

Their most recent La Liga win at the Bernabeu came in January 2019, another 2-0 triumph. Willian Jose and Ruben Pardo scored, Lucas Vazquez was dismissed, and Real were booed off.

The broader numbers are unforgiving for the visitors: just one win in their last 20 league trips to Real Madrid. They have scored a respectable 19 goals in that run, but conceded 54, with Real winning 16 of those matches.

Still, this is a fixture where Sociedad know they can hurt Madrid if the game opens up, or if discipline cracks.

The numbers, the odds, the history

The Opta supercomputer leans heavily towards the hosts: Real Madrid are given a 66 percent chance of victory, with Sociedad at 15 percent. The remaining slice is the draw.

Across 158 meetings, Madrid have won 91 times. Sociedad have 27 victories. The rest have been shared.

Those numbers underline the scale of the task, but they also frame the opportunity. Every Sociedad win in this rivalry tends to be remembered.

Team news: stars, absences and a familiar face missing

Madrid’s squad remains bruised. Militao is out with a muscle problem, Rodrygo is sidelined by a knee injury, Raul Asencio has a thigh issue and Ferland Mendy is missing with a hip problem.

Endrick (muscle), Thiago Pitarch (knee) and Aurelien Tchouameni (muscle) are doubts and may not feature. Bellingham, who left Espanyol with an ice pack strapped to his ankle, is expected to play.

Mourinho is likely to line up with:

• Courtois;
• Dumfries, Konate, Huijsen, Cucurella;
• Bernardo, Valverde;
• Guler, Bellingham, Vinicius;
• Mbappe.

For Sociedad, a familiar name will not be on the pitch. Alvaro Odriozola, the former Real defender now back at his boyhood club, is ruled out with a long-term knee injury.

Pablo Marin, Jon Gorrotxategi and Goncalo Guedes all face late fitness tests over muscle issues. Oyarzabal, who started on the bench at Betis, is expected to lead the line in Madrid.

Their predicted XI:

• Remiro;
• Aramburu, Zubeldia, Martin, Gomez;
• Herrera, Soler;
• Kubo, Sucic, Barrenetxea;
• Oyarzabal.

A night for statements

For Madrid, this is more than Mourinho’s homecoming. It is a chance to show that the late escape at Espanyol was a rusty first step, not a warning sign.

For Vinicius, it is another examination of how he channels his fury. For Bellingham, another stage to prove he is once again the man who bends games to his will. For Mbappe, a chance to look like La Liga’s most feared forward again, not just its most famous.

And for Real Sociedad? It is the perfect setting to remind Spain that last season’s cup win was not a one-off, and that even in a stadium built on Real Madrid’s power, they have written their own stories before.