Real Madrid beat Espanyol 2-1 in their first game of the season, and there were plenty of storylines.
Jose Mourinho surprised with his line-up, starting Arda Guler in his 4-2-3-1 and Bernardo Silva as one of the pivots.
Yet it didn’t quite gel, and needed Carlos Espi for a glorious 90th minute winner.
The goal came after an opener from Jude Bellingham and a frustrating night for Vinicius Jr.
Espanyol complain about Vinicius’ diving
He wasn’t just frustrating for Madrid, but Espanyol who hit out at him on social media.
They wrote: “After how many dives do you get a second yellow card? Asking for a friend.”
Mourinho showed some sympathy for the take, but also called out the rotation of fouls that took place on Vini.
Mourinho bizarrely referred back to when he was Benfica coach and accused Vinicius of provoking racial abuse he suffered.
Mourinho’s bizarre backhanded praise of Vinicius
He commented: “I run the risk of you going back months to find my words from when I was Vini’s opponent. But now Vini is mine.
“He’s no saint, but what they do to him is too much. From the first minute, it’s like he’s already been given a set routine. Now I foul him, now you foul him, one player gets a yellow card, another comes on without one…
“It’s incredibly frustrating for him; he needs to have a lot of mental control. I’ve even told him that if he scores, he should be careful how he celebrates.
“We’re in a social era of anti- bullying, but with Vini, we’re still in the era of bullying.”
Mourinho then defended his team’s performance coming so soon after the World Cup.
Mourinho defends close match
He continued: “You can’t ignore the team’s physical condition when talking about the system.
“They [Espanyol] didn’t have anyone at the World Cup and they’ve been working together for a long time, and that shows in their intensity.
“I didn’t expect Jude to be able to play so long. When it comes to pressing the way I like, we lack minutes and mileage. That’s why I value this victory so much; it’s a victory with heart, also from the bench.
“A frustrated bench doesn’t help at all, but a bench with team spirit helps you win. It was a difficult match; these are three very important points.
“I think we deserved to win, but Espanyol didn’t deserve to lose.
“We had great control and pressure in the second half, we took a lot of risks. We deserved to win.
“But a team that plays like Espanyol, that defends like that and counter-attacks like that, with their players pushing themselves to the limit, with such good organisation… It will be tough for them to go home empty-handed. But we deserved it.”
Mourinho then finished with praise of goalscorers Bellingham and Espi.
Bellingham and Espi get special praise
“When we talk about the best in the world, Real Madrid has many in that group. Bellingham, Vinicius, Mbappé… They are among them,” he said.
“I had doubts about whether to start Jude or bring him on later. I don’t know if I made the right decision, but he’s very strong physically and mentally.
“I expect him to connect with the attackers. He has an eye for goal; he needs to play close to the goal. He can play deeper, but then we lose his ability to get forward.
“I like the Jude who, with top physical condition, creates those chances. And Fede can also get into that position more, but when he plays alongside Bernardo, he has to be more focused, and we lose that a bit.
“We’re still getting to know each other, but we’re doing it without dropping points. That’s what’s important.”
On Espi, he finished: “He’s a really fun guy. We live together here in Valdebebas, we have breakfast together, lunch together, dinner together—me, my staff, him, and Cucurella.
“Tomorrow is his presentation; imagine, he’s living a dream. But he doesn’t work like he’s living in a dream world; he works incredibly hard. He has everything it takes to score goals; he’s an excellent player.
“When we saw that Gonzalo could go to Fulham, we analyzed the situation carefully, and we’re very happy with him. We need someone like him in these kinds of matches.”
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