Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad: Mourinho's Bernabeu Return

The Bernabeu lights go on again. On Wednesday night in Madrid, Real Madrid host Real Sociedad in La Liga, a clash that pits one of Spain’s serial winners against last season’s surprise cup champions. Kick-off is at 9pm local time (19:00 GMT), with Al Jazeera Sport live from 16:00 GMT for buildup and text commentary.

For all the noise around styles, systems and superstars, the story is simple: Real want their trophies back. Sociedad want to prove last season’s silverware was no one-off.

Mourinho back under the Bernabeu glare

Thirteen years after his first spell ended, Jose Mourinho walks out at the Bernabeu again as Real Madrid coach. The setting is familiar. The stakes are not.

Real are staring at the prospect of a third straight season without a major trophy – something that has not happened since 2006. Across that same period, either Real or Barcelona have appeared in all but four of the last 12 Copa del Rey finals. Sociedad broke that duopoly last season, lifting the cup after beating Atletico Madrid.

Now Mourinho’s job is clear: restore order in a dressing room that lurched through last season and stop Barcelona from completing a La Liga threepeat.

He has the weapons. Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham. New signings Bernardo Silva, Denzel Dumfries, Ibrahima Konate and Marc Cucurella. A squad built to dominate, not just compete.

But his second era began with a reminder that reputations don’t win points.

Late drama in Barcelona

Real’s La Liga campaign opened with a 2-1 win at Espanyol on Saturday, snatched in the final breath.

Bellingham, restored to a free-roaming attacking midfield role, headed in the first from an Arda Guler free-kick, underlining Mourinho’s intent to build around the England international. Espanyol hit back through Alex Calatrava, and the match drifted into the kind of awkward stalemate that used to haunt Real on the road.

Then, in the 90th minute, substitute Carlos Espi reacted quickest to a loose ball in the box. One swing of his boot, and Mourinho’s return to Spanish league football started with three points rather than a headache.

“I think that we deserved to win but that Espanyol didn’t deserve to lose,” Mourinho said afterwards, acknowledging the home side’s cohesion after a World Cup-free summer.

Mbappe, La Liga’s top scorer in each of his two seasons at Real, found space early on the right but lacked his usual ruthlessness. Vinicius, battered and fouled, won free-kicks but rarely escaped the defensive cage around him. The fireworks are there. The fuse is still being lit.

The Vinicius question

Mourinho has wasted no time stepping into one of Spanish football’s most volatile debates: how Vinicius is treated on and off the pitch.

The Brazilian was again at the centre of flashpoints at Espanyol, clashing with both players and fans. Mourinho wants to change the script.

“There is on the field and off the field,” he said. He believes Vinicius can handle the standard barrage of insults from the stands better, as long as they are not racist or homophobic, and that this is something they can work on together.

On the pitch, he is demanding more from referees – or “judges”, as he likes to call them. For him, the responsibility to protect flair players and the flow of the game lies with the officials.

“It’s gone into a spiral in which the opponents know what they can do and what they can’t do,” Mourinho said, arguing that repeated fouls, delayed yellow cards and tolerated provocation have created an unfair environment around the winger.

His stance is striking given his own history. Last season, as Benfica coach, Mourinho was criticised for questioning Vinicius’ behaviour after the forward accused an opponent of racially abusing him in a Champions League tie. The Portuguese coach had suggested the Brazilian’s celebrations incited opponents.

Now, at Real, he insists the difference in how Vinicius is treated compared with other players is obvious. The relationship between coach and star forward will shape not only this season, but the tone of Real’s battles in Spain and Europe.

Sociedad’s rugged start

Real Sociedad arrive in Madrid with fewer headlines but plenty of edge.

Their league campaign began with a 1-0 defeat at Real Betis. Rodrigo Riquelme’s sharp volley from a Cucho Hernandez cross decided a tight contest between two sides who both pushed for Europe last season.

The fixture list has not been kind. Sociedad open with back-to-back away games, a harsh test for a team that won only three of 19 league matches on the road last season. Yet they come as Copa del Rey holders, armed with belief and a recent history of bloodying Real’s nose.

Mikel Oyarzabal, who started on the bench against Betis, is expected to lead the line at the Bernabeu. Behind him, the creativity of Takefusa Kubo and the threat of Ander Barrenetxea give Imanol Alguacil’s side the tools to counterpunch.

Former Real full-back Alvaro Odriozola, now back at Sociedad, misses out with a long-term knee injury, while Pablo Marin, Jon Gorrotxategi and Goncalo Guedes face late fitness checks.

Memories of shocks and thrashings

Real’s most recent meeting with Sociedad was brutal for the visitors. A 4-1 win for Los Blancos in last season’s corresponding La Liga fixture saw Vinicius score twice from the spot, with Gonzalo Garcia and Federico Valverde also on target. Oyarzabal briefly levelled from the penalty spot on 21 minutes, but Real were 3-1 up by half-time and never looked back.

Yet the Bernabeu has not always been a fortress against the Basques.

Sociedad’s last win there came in La Liga in January 2019, a 2-0 victory sealed by goals from Willian Jose and Ruben Pardo after Lucas Vazquez was sent off for Real.

More vivid still is the 4-3 Copa del Rey shock in February 2020. That night, Martin Odegaard – now Arsenal captain – scored first, Alexander Isak struck twice to make it 3-0 by the 56th minute, and even a late Real surge could not prevent Sociedad from going through. Marcelo, Rodrygo and Nacho all scored, Andoni Gorosabel was sent off, and the Bernabeu watched a classic cup tie slip away.

Sociedad’s last league win over Real came in May 2023, a 2-0 home victory inspired by goals from Kubo and Barrenetxea, with Dani Carvajal dismissed to complete Real’s misery.

Still, the numbers in Madrid are stark. Sociedad have won just one of their last 20 La Liga visits to Real. They have scored 19 goals in that run but conceded 54, with Real winning 16 of those matches.

Team news and likely lineups

Real’s squad depth will be tested early.

Eder Militao (muscle), Rodrygo (knee), Raul Asencio (thigh) and Ferland Mendy (hip) remain out. Endrick (muscle), Thiago Pitarch (knee) and Aurelien Tchouameni (muscle) are doubts and may also miss the game.

Bellingham is expected to start despite icing his ankle after coming off at Espanyol. Mourinho’s likely XI leans heavily on his new arrivals:

• Real Madrid predicted XI: Courtois; Dumfries, Konate, Huijsen, Cucurella; Bernardo, Valverde; Guler, Bellingham, Vinicius; Mbappe.

For Sociedad, Odriozola is unavailable, while Marin, Gorrotxategi and Guedes will be assessed late. Oyarzabal should return to the starting lineup.

• Real Sociedad predicted XI: Remiro; Aramburu, Zubeldia, Martin, Gomez; Herrera, Soler; Kubo, Sucic, Barrenetxea; Oyarzabal.

The numbers – and the mood

The Opta supercomputer makes Real clear favourites, handing them a 66 percent chance of victory. Sociedad are given just 15 percent, with the remaining probability pointing to a draw.

History backs that view. Across 158 meetings, Real have won 91 times to Sociedad’s 27.

But this is not just another early-season fixture. It is Mourinho’s first game back at the Bernabeu, a fanbase impatient for trophies, a star-studded squad still gelling, and a visiting side that knows exactly how it feels to silence this stadium.

If Real really are starting a new era, this is the kind of night when they have to show it.