Thirteen years is a long time to be away from anywhere, and the Real Madrid that Jose Mourinho walked back into this summer is not the one he left. Seven league games into his second spell, with a three-year contract in his pocket and a brief to end two trophyless seasons, the familiar tensions have arrived early.
The derby defeat at Atletico Madrid was the moment the mood shifted. Mourinho spent much of the aftermath pointing at two first-half incidents he felt should have gone against the home side, a studs-up challenge by Cristian Romero on Jude Bellingham and a similar one from Lee Kang-in on Federico Valverde, neither of which brought a red card. The performance, though, was the bigger problem.
The gap is already six points
Madrid sit fourth. Barcelona have won all seven of their league games and scored 31 goals, with Raphinha alone on twelve, and are six points clear of Mourinho's side. Atletico are second and Real Betis third, both five behind Hansi Flick's team.
The historical note is not encouraging. The only time Real have clawed back a six-point deficit to Barcelona at the top of La Liga was in Fabio Capello's title season of 2006-07. That does not make it impossible, but it does tell you how rarely this particular hole gets filled in.
Nobody is running the game
At the Metropolitano, Mourinho paired Aurelien Tchouameni with Valverde and pushed Bellingham higher. The two holding players gave Madrid legs and cover, and very little else. Against a side that defended in a compact block, nobody was setting the tempo or opening anything up from deep. Bernardo Silva came on with eight minutes left, by which point the game had already gone.
Silva is the obvious answer if Mourinho wants someone to dictate rhythm, and Arda Guler offers creativity further up. Keeping the double pivot is not the issue. Finding a way for Madrid to actually control matches is.
Three match-winners, not enough chances
Kylian Mbappe barely touched the ball against Atletico. Vinicius Jr came off shortly after Dean Huijsen was sent off early in the second half. Between them and Bellingham, Mourinho has three players capable of settling a match on their own, which is a luxury and a puzzle at the same time, because at the moment they crowd each other rather than combine.
Mbappe needs the ball delivered to him rather than having to go and fetch it. Vinicius needs to rediscover the directness that used to make him unplayable. There is also a younger option Mourinho has not leaned on much: Carlos Espi, 21, scored a 90th-minute winner against Espanyol on his league debut and then did it again in stoppage time against Elche. A player who keeps producing late goals is worth more minutes than he is getting.
What happens when the ball is lost
The other flaw is transitional. Atletico kept finding room around the Madrid midfield and attacking at speed, a problem Huijsen's dismissal only sharpened. Denzel Dumfries, Ibrahima Konate, Huijsen and Marc Cucurella lined up in front of Thibaut Courtois, and there is quality in that back four, but the cohesion was not there when the full-backs went forward. Courtois made several saves that kept the score respectable, which is itself a verdict on the team in front of him.
Mourinho now has an unusually long break to think about it. Madrid do not play again until they host Villarreal on Saturday 10 October, and travel to Barcelona a fortnight after that. He has said he has concerns about a three-week gap. He also has three weeks to come up with answers, and not much longer than that before the title race stops being one.
Context: Mourinho returned to Real Madrid this summer on a three-year contract, 13 years after leaving. His first spell brought La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup. Real are fourth after seven La Liga games, six points behind leaders Barcelona. Next fixture: Real Madrid v Villarreal, Saturday 10 October.
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