Mourinho calls up all six Real Madrid signings for Real Sociedad clash

It's matchday two of LaLiga, and the same question is hanging in the air once again: when will the new signings make their debut? The answer could come this Wednesday. Jose Mourinho once again called up all six Real Madrid reinforcements for the match against Real Sociedad at the Santiago Bernabeu, essentially repeating the same lineup he named for the league opener against Espanyol.

Marc Cucurella, Denzel Dumfries, Ibrahima Konate, Bernardo Silva, Yan Diomande and Carlos Espi still haven't logged official minutes in the white shirt, but Mourinho's insistence on calling them up match after match suggests a debut for one of them is coming soon. The coach also gets Jude Bellingham back, who finished the match in Barcelona with discomfort and caused some concern during the week.

The squad list is rounded out by four academy products who have become regulars in recent call-ups: Sergio Mestre, Mario Rivas, Jorge Cestero and Alexis Ciria. Nothing changes on the injury front either: Mourinho does not get any injured player back for this match, which corresponds to Matchday 1 of LaLiga (the club has a game in hand, hence the scheduling mismatch).

Seven names on the injury list

Real Madrid starts the season with seven players sidelined. Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy and Rodrygo Goes remain in recovery from long-term injuries, while Mourinho expects to have Endrick, Aurelien Tchouameni, Thiago Pitarch and Raul Asencio available in September.

On the French midfielder, the coach went into detail at the pre-match press conference, explaining at length why his return is being handled with caution:

"He hasn't suffered a setback. He went through a lot at the Club World Cup, which is normal. You suffer at that tournament. If you have to play injured, thinking you'll have a month of vacation afterward, you have to risk everything, and that's what he did. As you saw, he missed a couple of matches, but then he played again in the semifinal and that's where the problem came from. The vacation period wasn't enough. We've decided that you can't start a season in pain. You can finish the last month or two of a season in pain, but you can't start a season in August without being at 100%. We're going to wait. If it's one more week, it'll be one more week, but we're not going to push him."Jose Mourinho

Coming home

Beyond the new signings, the match carries another special layer: Mourinho returns to the Bernabeu, the stadium that was his home for three seasons as Real Madrid manager. Asked about the reception he expects, he chose to deflect the spotlight from himself and place it on the team:

"I don't want the Bernabeu to give me any particular kind of welcome, I want it to welcome the team as its team, as its passion. I know last season didn't end well, and at some point it might have seemed like that love was going through a rough patch. What I want is for us to start from zero, though in this case it's not really from zero. I think people have already gotten a feel for how the group is working, its commitment and its will to do things right. That's what matters most, I'm not important. I'm perfectly capable of controlling my emotions and playing a match normally even though it isn't a normal match, because it's a match worth three points and we have to win them. I'd really like the team to feel something different from what it felt last season, especially in the final stretch. Let's go together."Jose Mourinho

With the Bernabeu back and expectations high for the new arrivals, Real Madrid looks to confirm at home what it showed on the opening matchday.