José Mourinho has signaled that Real Madrid may need to reinforce their central midfield after evaluating his squad during a preseason training camp in Budapest. Speaking to club media following a 2-1 victory over Ferencvaros, the manager pointed to squad balance, physical workloads, and tactical adaptability as critical areas requiring attention heading into the competitive season.
The fixture at the Groupama Aréna in Budapest marked Real Madrid’s first win of their summer preparations, following a 2-2 draw against Fiorentina a week earlier. Facing a Ferencvaros side deeply integrated into UEFA Europa League qualification matches, Mourinho used the outing to test physical limits and tactical combinations under match conditions.
“More important than doing everything right is also doing some things wrong, which allow me to think together with the players, analyze them, and always improve,” Mourinho told Real Madrid TV. He highlighted a specific late-game sequence in the victory, noting that elite game management requires precise decision-making when defending a lead in the closing stages.
“All these small errors that accumulate in these matches are a good thing for me,” he added. “I liked the first half more than the second half, which doesn’t surprise me. The first half is a team we have been working with, we have played a couple of games before, and there is more connection between the players on the field, very good control of the match.”
Tactical adjustments and physical hurdles
The second half brought significant rotation, including the introduction of Vinícius Júnior and Bernardo, alongside positional shifts for Endrick. Mourinho noted that these alterations disrupted the team’s structural organization.
“In the second half, Vini and Bernardo come on, who don’t have minutes and have a couple of days of training,” Mourinho explained. “We also changed Endrick’s position and we lost a bit of the game’s organization.”
Vinícius Júnior’s return comes on the heels of his recent contract renewal, a development Mourinho welcomed warmly. The manager tempered expectations regarding the Brazilian forward’s immediate physical ceiling, noting that both Vinícius and Bernardo arrived at preseason camp carrying the heavy legs of early conditioning blocks after extended holiday periods.
“The most important thing is the renewal. The renewal is joy for him, obviously, but it is joy for all of us,” Mourinho said. “Little training, he and Bernardo are players who, like the others did a couple of weeks ago, enter the match already tired, entering the match already feeling in their legs the fatigue of the work we have done.”
Bernardo, a versatile Portuguese midfielder who enjoyed an extended break, was assessed as physically short of his optimal baseline but technically vital. Mourinho deployed him across multiple positions during the match—shifting him from deep buildup roles in the 6 or 8 positions to an advanced 10 role as physical fatigue set in—before introducing Cestero to stabilize the center.
“Bernardo is very important, but the poor guy is another one who has had vacations,” Mourinho remarked. “It is a profile of guy whose head does well not doing anything during the vacation period, and he has presented himself in a physical fitness platform quite inferior and has to grow.”
Squad planning and the search for an anchor
Mourinho emphasized his preference for a compact senior roster, framing versatility as an essential asset for squad management. With long-term injuries sidelining players such as Rodrygo, Éder Militão, and Ferland Mendy for the foreseeable future, the manager stressed that multi-positional capability is non-negotiable.
Those remarks have fueled widespread speculation across Spanish media regarding the club’s transfer intentions.
Real Madrid continues its preseason schedule with an upcoming fixture against FC Schalke 04 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Kickoff times and broadcast details for the match remain subject to final confirmation by tournament organizers.
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