From collapse to confidence: Mourinho's boldness revives Real Madrid and restores the Clasico's shine
A timely uprising before facing Barcelona
Real Madrid have put their house in order, restoring faith in their players and their coach at one of the most delicate moments of the season. Defiance is the message ahead of next Sunday's Clasico.
Crises have followed them since August, on the pitch and off it. Battles with referees and everything else that came with them drained the team's focus, hurt performances and cost points in the La Liga title race.
Then came Roma in the Champions League and Sevilla in La Liga. Two very different nights, one enormous boost to morale.
Against Roma, the mental dividend was obvious. Two goals down, Madrid turned the tie around to win 4-3 inside eight minutes, rediscovering the weapon that made their name over the years: "the character of a champion".
Escaping Rome without defeat handed the Spanish giants a shield against the arrows of criticism, the sort that would have cut deep before a Clasico.
Days later came confirmation. A comfortable, convincing 4-1 win over Sevilla, their second biggest of the season, answered the doubts that had hung over the team and its stars for some time. Four goals for the second match running, too.
Yet the scoreline was not the biggest prize from last night. Madrid showed they can score at any stage of a game and vary their attacking solutions, having looked powerless not so long ago.
The men in white fired off 15 shots, eight of them on target, with 65% possession. Numbers like that will settle any supporter's nerves.
Real Madrid are better without Vinicius
Real Madrid's revival against Roma after Vinicius was substituted, followed by a superb display against Sevilla in his absence through domestic suspension, cannot be put down to coincidence.
With the Brazilian unavailable, Jose Mourinho handed Yan Diomande the left flank. The Ivorian winger seized it, producing his best performance yet with a goal and an assist.
Endrick got his first start of the season too. He did not quite hit the level he reached at the end of the Roma match, but he grew in confidence and gave Mourinho an extra option out wide.
Kylian Mbappe, meanwhile, looked liberated. He drifted right and left as he pleased, bagged a brace and led the side to victory with minimal fuss while tormenting the Sevilla defence throughout.
The good news? Vinicius's suspension runs through the Clasico. Another performance of the sort Sevilla were subjected to is far from impossible.
Mourinho's surprises
Mourinho sprang a surprise against Sevilla, handing Fede Valverde the right-back berth despite the Uruguayan having previously said he refused to play there.
A midfielder out on the right was startling enough. More startling still: Trent Alexander-Arnold and Denzel Dumfries, full-backs for England and the Netherlands, spent the entire match on the bench.
The gamble paid off. Valverde was superb, giving Mourinho the balance he wanted both defensively and in support of Endrick.
Whether this was a one-off or something the Portuguese plans to stick with in the games ahead remains unclear. Either way, he faces a twin challenge: selling the idea to Valverde while keeping a lid on the frustration of Alexander-Arnold and Dumfries.
Valverde's switch wasn't the only curveball. Mourinho also picked just one player with defensive instincts in midfield against an attacking five, a bold call that reshaped the side for the better.
Tchouameni operated alone in front of the back four, which freed Arda Guler to push on alongside Jude Bellingham and feed the front three. The Turk thrived in the role and played his part in a win that has brought some calm back to the Spanish capital's club.
A smooth path
Nothing matters at the Santiago Bernabeu now except the Clasico. Sevilla are done, and Wednesday's Champions League tie with Leipzig is the final rehearsal.
Fate has handed Real Madrid the kindest possible warm-up: home soil, and opponents who look to be falling apart after shipping six at Bayern Munich a few days ago. Madrid can also breathe easy in Europe, having won their opening two matches and come through the two hardest tests in the group stage.
That makes them clear favourites for a fourth straight win in all competitions, which would firm up their footing before the biggest test of the season.
Barcelona, by contrast, arrive at the Clasico days after a fiery night with Paris Saint-Germain, winners of the last two Champions Leagues. No time to draw breath inside the Camp Nou fortress. A stumble against the French side would also dent the mood in Hansi Flick's squad, because it would be their first of the campaign.
Mourinho knows what a win on Barcelona's own patch would do. It would flip the season on its head and cut the gap between the two to just 3 points, after Madrid had looked like surrendering early in the race.
Nobody should pretend Real Madrid have solved everything and walk into the Clasico as the stronger side. The defensive problems linger, and the goal they conceded against Sevilla is the proof. Barcelona are still favourites to settle this one. But the race is on again, after the gaps had widened so noticeably in recent weeks.
