Real Madrid opens LaLiga campaign at Espanyol with Mourinho and a reshaped squad

New coach, a half-renovated squad and a league opener that arrives late. Real Madrid is finally stepping onto a LaLiga pitch this season, and it's doing so at none other than the RCDE Stadium, home of Espanyol, this Saturday, August 22.

There's a reason for the delay: the matchday one fixture against Real Sociedad was moved to midweek, so the Madrid side arrives at this game with a schedule slightly out of sync with everyone else. Nothing serious, but it's a curious detail explaining why the official debut of Madrid's 2026/2027 campaign comes on matchday two instead of matchday one.

What is generating buzz is the bench. Jose Mourinho is back in charge of the Madrid side, and he's taking over a squad that's been significantly reworked in the transfer market. Names like Denzel Dumfries, Marc Cucurella, Diomande, Ibrahima Konate and Bernardo Silva join a roster that was already stacked with stars. The question is how long it will take the Portuguese coach to fit all the new pieces together without losing balance.

Because it's not all good news out of Valdebebas. The backline has taken some tough hits: Raul Asencio, Militao and Rodrygo are all sidelined with injuries and won't be available for this trip to Cornella. Mourinho will have to get creative in the back, though the arrivals of Konate and Dean Huijsen should ease part of the problem.

An Espanyol side that's off to a flying start

Madrid won't be facing an easy opponent, let alone one full of doubts. Espanyol opened its league campaign with a resounding 3-0 win over Levante and wants to keep collecting points at home, with Roberto Fernandez leading the attack. In preseason, the Catalan side closed out with a record of two wins, three draws and one loss, while Madrid arrives having posted two wins and a draw in its summer friendlies.

The likely lineups point to an Espanyol side with Marko Dmitrovic in goal and a back four made up of Omar El Hilali, Clemens Riedel, Unai Nunez and Roger Hinojo, while the midfield would feature Urko Gonzalez, Edu Exposito, Alex Calatrava and Javi Hernandez, with Tyrhys Dolan alongside Roberto Fernandez up top.

On Madrid's side, Mourinho could start Thibaut Courtois in goal, with Dumfries, Konate, Huijsen and Alvaro Carreras across the back line. The midfield would feature Federico Valverde, Bernardo Silva and Arda Guler, leaving Brahim Diaz, Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe to make up the attacking trio.

History clearly favors the Madrid side: of 201 meetings, Real Madrid has won 119, Espanyol has won 46 and there have been 36 draws. Numbers that carry weight, though in soccer every match starts from zero, especially when a new coach is testing pieces for the first time.

The match is scheduled for 1:30 pm Mexico City time, 2:30 pm in Ecuador, Colombia and Peru, 3:30 pm Eastern Time and in Chile, and 4:30 pm in Argentina and Uruguay. It's a game that should give a real sense of where this Mourinho-led Real Madrid stands.