Real Madrid Open the Mourinho Era in Europe With a Win Over Inter
Sixteen years after leaving Inter Milan to take his first job at the Santiago Bernabeu, Jose Mourinho returned to the Champions League as Real Madrid’s head coach and beat the very club he once led to European glory. The 2-1 win over Inter on matchday one gave Mourinho’s second spell in Madrid an early marker, and bettors weighing Madrid’s title chances this season have been checking 1mlnbet Canada for how the club’s Champions League odds moved after the result.
A Familiar Foe on an Unfamiliar Bench
The fixture carried obvious symbolism. Mourinho left Inter in 2010 straight after winning the treble and the Champions League final at the same Bernabeu stadium, before taking over Real Madrid for the first time. This season he returned to the club he now manages, facing the side he once turned into European champions, with Cristian Chivu now in the Inter dugout. Kylian Mbappe and Fede Valverde put Madrid two goals up in the first half after a pair of defensive errors from Inter, with Carlos Augusto pulling one back in the second half before Madrid held on. Mbappe’s goal was his 71st in the Champions League, level with Raul’s tally for the club, on his 99th appearance in the competition.
An interesting note for newer followers of the rivalry: Mourinho remains the only manager to have won the Champions League with both Inter and Porto, but the trophy is the one honor that eluded him during his first spell at Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013, when he won the league title and the domestic cup instead.
What to Watch as the Group Phase Continues
A few storylines worth following as Madrid’s European campaign develops under Mourinho:
- Whether Courtois can keep producing the kind of saves that kept Inter off the scoresheet for most of the opening half.
- How Mourinho balances a defensively disciplined approach with a squad built for attacking football under previous coaches.
- Madrid’s response after already suffering their first league defeat of the season at Real Betis days before the Inter game.
- Whether the club can finally add the one European trophy that has eluded Mourinho throughout his career at Real Madrid.
A Cautious First Step
Mourinho himself downplayed the performance despite the result, describing it as a chaotic match that could easily have finished with more goals at either end. For a club that has gone two seasons without a major trophy and made early European exits, a narrow win over a strong Inter side is a modest but useful start rather than a statement of intent. The bigger test of whether this second Mourinho era in Madrid can deliver the Champions League he never won the first time around will come as the group phase moves into its tougher fixtures.
