Madrid -- It's still early; it's still the first Champions League match of the season, but Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid will need drastic improvement to be true contenders. In search of their 15th Champions League title in their history, it's probably too soon claim they are sure-fire contenders, but despite winning 2-1 against Inter at the Bernabeu on Tuesday, the Blancos are still at the beginning of their new cycle. The positive news is definitely the result, as coach Jose Mourinho said himself, but Inter challenged Real Madrid and had a better start to the game until Curtis Jones and Joseph Martinez's mistakes led to Real Madrid scoring the opening two goals of the match.
From then, the game completely changed and both teams had a very good number of chances to score more goals. In the end, it was 2-1 after the late goal scored by Inter's Carlos Augusto, and both teams should feel good about their Champions League debuts. Real Madrid won their opening game in what was probably the most challenging match of the league phase, while Inter played a good game and challenged what's considered one of the best teams in the world.
Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe didn't have their best day of soccer, but Real Madrid fans know perfectly well this is just the start of a new season, with a new manager and with different tactical approaches compared to the past. Fede Valverde punishes Josep Martínez's mistake to double Real Madrid's lead 💥Don't miss the #UCL on @paramountplus 🍿 pic.twitter.com/D8OvAIfwBG During the post-match press conference, Mourinho was very clear on what went wrong today, evening a winning effort. "I liked the result: three points against a very strong team.
It was a spectacular game for those watching at home, a little less so for me and [Cristian] Chivu. It was a completely crazy game: it could have ended 5-0 to us, 5-5, 6-5, or even 7-6. Inter could have scored before us, just as we could have scored before them.
We had several chances to put the game to bed as well. But it was a wild, unpredictable game right until the end." Speaking to CBS Sports, Mbappe praised the Portuguese coach, underlining how important he's for the dressing room. Mourinho is already behaving as a leader for Real Madrid players, defending them when things are not going so well.
It also happened against Inter, when Vinicius Jr. left the pitch in the second half. As often happens at the Bernabeu, Real Madrid fans were not so happy with the performance of the Brazilian striker, but Mourinho intervened. He applauded him in front of everyone, and the whole stadium followed the Portuguese coach.
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