Jose Mourinho walked back into the Bernabeu in June, thirteen years after he left, and asked La Liga to remember who he used to be. Nine days and three matches into the 2026/27 season, La Liga is remembering fast. Real Madrid have won every game. Nine points from nine. Back on top of the table. And here is the part that should genuinely stop you: Mourinho never did this during his first spell in Madrid, not even close.
Real Madrid beat Espanyol 2-1 on the road to open the season. They followed it with a 4-1 demolition of Real Sociedad at home. Then, on August 30, they put four past Malaga at the Bernabeu without giving up a single goal. Jude Bellingham opened the scoring in the 19th minute and forced an own goal seven minutes later. Kylian Mbappe added a third. Arda Guler, set up by Vinicius Junior, closed it out.
That is not just a good week. That is a statement.
The Record Mourinho Never Set the First Time
Go back and check his numbers from his first Real Madrid stint and this hits different. In 2010/11 he opened with two wins and a draw, seven points. In 2011/12 it was two wins and a loss, six points. In 2012/13 he managed one win, one loss, one draw, just four points. He never once won his opening three league games during that first stint in Madrid. Now, nine days into his second act, he finally has.
| Season | Opening 3 La Liga Games | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 2010/11 (first stint) | 2W 1D 0L | 7 |
| 2011/12 (first stint) | 2W 0D 1L | 6 |
| 2012/13 (first stint) | 1W 1D 1L | 4 |
| 2026/27 (second stint) | 3W 0D 0L | 9 |
Six combined seasons at this club across two different eras, and he has never had a start like this one. That is not nothing. Sample size is tiny, but perfect starts do not happen by accident at a club that has cycled through coaches since Ancelotti left.
What Mourinho Actually Fixed
Real Madrid spent close to 200 million pounds rebuilding the roster around him this summer, and every signing looks deliberate. Marc Cucurella arrived from Chelsea for roughly 52 million pounds and made his first official start against Malaga, locking down the left side all afternoon. Denzel Dumfries came in from Inter Milan to give Mourinho an actual engine at right back. Ibrahima Konate walked in for free from Liverpool to anchor the defense. Bernardo Silva joined on a free transfer from Manchester City, adding a midfielder who has won nearly everything English football has to offer.
Watch the games and the tactical fix is obvious. Bellingham is playing behind Vinicius and Mbappe instead of fighting them for the same space. That is the adjustment doing the heavy lifting. Put your best attacking midfielder in the pocket. Let your two most explosive players run in behind him, then trust a rebuilt back line to clean up whatever gets through.
Mourinho does not sound like a man ready to take a victory lap. After a preseason win over Deportivo, he told reporters exactly where his head was at. “You know the five who are at Valdebebas. And next week, the real work begins.” That is the same Mourinho who never let a hot week turn into a soft one. He treats every good result as the warning before a harder test.
Nine points from nine buys patience, but not much else, in a Real Madrid dressing room that has gone two seasons without a major trophy. What those three wins actually prove is different. The version of Mourinho who came back to Madrid this summer is not chasing nostalgia. He is coaching like a man with something left to finish.
