Real Madrid secured a 2-1 victory over Inter Milan, but it is difficult to describe the performance as convincing. Steve McManaman, Jamie Carragher, Samuel Umtiti and Fabio Capello all highlighted major weaknesses in José Mourinho’s side.
Mourinho’s Real Madrid began their Champions League campaign with an important 2-1 win over Inter. The result was positive, but the performance raised plenty of questions.
The Spanish giants were largely dominated in possession, finishing with only 36% of the ball compared to Inter’s 64%. The Italians also created more shooting opportunities, registering 21 attempts against Real Madrid’s 16, while Thibaut Courtois was forced to make seven saves.
Despite collecting all three points, several analysts quickly identified the same issues: a lack of pressing, poor collective organisation, huge spaces in midfield and an overall inability to control the match, even though Real Madrid were playing at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Criticism pours in
Former Real Madrid player Steve McManaman was particularly critical of Mourinho’s team.
“It’s so easy to play against Real Madrid. They don’t press. You only need one pass to find a free player behind them. Inter simply couldn’t take their chances,” he explained.
McManaman nevertheless praised the performances of Jude Bellingham, Dean Huijsen and Ibrahima Konaté, whom he considered Real Madrid’s best outfield players on the night.
Jamie Carragher also analysed the performance, describing it as a mixture of the traditional Real Madrid mentality and Mourinho’s typical tactical approach.
“This is classic Real Madrid, as Thierry Henry says, but it is also very Mourinho. His teams have always waited for the opposition to make a mistake before punishing them, and that is exactly what happened tonight,” said the former Liverpool defender.
Carragher believes Mourinho must find a way to make his attacking players contribute more defensively.
“They didn’t do that enough today, and that is also one of the reasons why Inter had so much possession,” he added.
On RMC, Samuel Umtiti was even more severe.
🤜💥🤛 pic.twitter.com/u6UMvVooGh
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) September 9, 2026
“Real Madrid are going to suffer this season. There are so many weaknesses in this team. Sometimes there are enormous gaps in midfield, and defending like that is impossible,” he said.
According to the former French international, Real Madrid were also fortunate to escape with victory.
“Tonight, they were lucky. I don’t see a team. There is nothing at all,” Umtiti concluded.
Spanish journalist Javier Sillés, writing for AS, focused on Mourinho’s decision to use Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield.
“With a lack of midfielders, Trent. Mourinho must have remembered some of the English full-back’s appearances in that position for Liverpool and thought his technical quality would do the rest,” he wrote.
Fabio Capello, meanwhile, pointed to problems in Real Madrid’s build-up play.
“I saw Real Madrid struggling in the early phases of possession. Obviously, the match wasn’t supposed to go like this,” the former Real Madrid coach explained.
“When you face a Real Madrid team positioned like that, without balance in midfield, you have to take advantage of it. Inter didn’t.”
Capello also named Courtois as Real Madrid’s best player of the match.
Real Madrid therefore leave their opening European fixture with three important points, but also with several problems to solve. The result was encouraging; the performance was far less convincing. And the verdict from the analysts was almost unanimous: this Real Madrid team is still a long way from looking reassuring.
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