Real Madrid: How Mourinho's 2026 start compares with 2010

Jose Mourinho has won six of his first eight matches in both of his spells as Real Madrid manager, but the similarities largely end there: his 2026 side are scoring more freely while conceding at a rate almost unthinkable during the opening weeks of his first Bernabeu reign.

Sixteen years after first taking charge of Real Madrid, Mourinho has returned to a club facing some familiar problems.

Madrid had gone two seasons without a major trophy when the Portuguese arrived from Inter Milan in 2010, with Pep Guardiola's Barcelona dominating Spanish football and the Champions League trophy having eluded Los Blancos since 2002.

There are echoes of that situation in 2026. Madrid have again endured two trophyless seasons, Barcelona are setting the early pace domestically and Mourinho has been backed heavily in an attempt to rebuild the squad.

The investment has changed dramatically.

Madrid spent around €74m on six newcomers in Mourinho's first summer, including Angel Di Maria, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira and Ricardo Carvalho.

This time, six players have arrived for a combined €225m, headed by £107m winger Yan Diomande, alongside Marc Cucurella, Carlos Espi and Denzel Dumfries, while Ibrahima Konate and Bernardo Silva joined without transfer fees.

After eight competitive games, however, the most revealing comparison is found on the pitch.

Mourinho's 2010 Madrid immediately found defensive control

Mourinho's first Madrid side opened with six victories and two draws.

They scored 15 goals across those eight matches but conceded only twice, keeping six clean sheets while avoiding defeat altogether.

Mallorca and Levante were the only teams to prevent them from winning, while Madrid beat Osasuna, Real Sociedad, Espanyol and Deportivo La Coruna in La Liga and Ajax and Auxerre in the Champions League.

That defensive security quickly became one of the foundations of Mourinho's first season.

Madrid eventually conceded 33 league goals in 2010-11, second only to Barcelona's 21, while their attack developed dramatically enough to finish with 102 goals.

They ended the campaign four points behind Guardiola's champions on 92 points, reached the Champions League semi-finals and defeated Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final.

The early caution therefore did not prevent Mourinho from developing an explosive attacking side.

What stands out compared with 2026 is how quickly his first Madrid team became difficult to hurt.

More goals have come with far greater vulnerability in 2026

Mourinho has again recorded six victories from his opening eight matches, but there have been no draws this time.

Defeats to Real Betis and Atletico Madrid mean the current side have collected 18 points from a possible 24, compared with 20 at the equivalent stage in 2010, despite both teams posting the same 75% win rate.

The attacking return is actually better.

Madrid have scored 20 times - five more than Mourinho's first team managed at the same stage - after victories against Espanyol, Real Sociedad, Malaga, Rayo Vallecano, Elche and Inter Milan.

Defensively, the contrast is striking.

Nine goals have already been conceded, compared with just two in 2010.

The schedules are not identical, and Mourinho's current side have already faced demanding tests against Inter and Atletico, meaning the numbers cannot be treated as a direct measure of which Madrid team was stronger.

They do, however, illustrate the different challenge facing the manager.

His side have struggled to maintain their intensity after half time and have not yet found consistent protection in midfield, with Madrid's midfield balance coming under scrutiny after the defeats to Betis and Atletico, allowing opponents opportunities to attack a defence that has rarely looked as settled as Mourinho would like.

There are issues at the other end despite the higher goal total too.

Vinicius Junior has yet to reproduce his best form, while Kylian Mbappe's importance to the attack has contributed to questions over Madrid's balance and their ability to generate equal threat from both flanks.

That makes Mourinho's second start at the Bernabeu difficult to describe simply as better or worse than the first.

The win totals are identical and the current attack has produced more goals.

What the 2010 comparison exposes is the element Madrid have not yet rediscovered: the defensive control that Mourinho established almost immediately the first time around.