Mourinho's Champions League Return With Real Madrid Begins With 2-1 Win Over Inter
Jose Mourinho marked his return to Champions League football with Real Madrid by beating Inter 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu, in a match the hosts led comfortably before a nervous finish.
The result opened the league phase of the 2026-27 competition, 13 years after Mourinho left the club at the end of his first spell in charge.
Two First-Half Gifts
Both Real Madrid goals came from Inter mistakes. Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring in the 14th minute after capitalising on an error by Yann Bisseck, his fifth goal of the season. Nine minutes later goalkeeper Josep Martinez hesitated in the box and attempted a poor turn to escape Federico Valverde, who took the ball and finished into an empty net.
Mbappe had collected the Golden Boot before kick-off as the leading scorer in last season's competition. The goal took him to 71 career Champions League goals, drawing him level with Raul in fifth place on the all-time list.
Inter had otherwise acquitted themselves well and dominated possession, but were made to pay for those two moments. Brahim Diaz and Jude Bellingham both had opportunities to extend the lead before the interval.
The visitors improved after the break, with Marcus Thuram missing the best of a series of chances. Carlos Augusto finally pulled a goal back in the 77th minute, getting in front of Denzel Dumfries to convert a Lautaro Martinez cross and setting up a tense closing period.
Real Madrid finished with the higher expected goals figure at 2.91 to Inter's 1.78, though much of that advantage came from the chances handed to them in the first half.
Mourinho Looks Forward
Mourinho won trophies during his first spell in Madrid between 2010 and 2013 but never the Champions League, reaching three consecutive semi-finals without going further. The club has been eliminated in the quarter-finals in each of the past two seasons.
Asked this week whether he felt pressure to deliver European success on his return, Mourinho said what he needs to do now has nothing to do with the past, adding that when he left in 2013 the team had won what it won and lost what it lost and had given everything.
He also pointed to how the club's standing has changed, noting that back in 2010 Real Madrid were not reaching quarter-finals and had gone a long time without a semi-final, whereas the club has since won six Champions Leagues in little over a decade.
Haaland Equals Aguero Mark
Elsewhere on the opening night, Erling Haaland scored twice as Manchester City won 2-0 at Porto. He had been denied several times in the first half by goalkeeper Diogo Costa before breaking through early in the second.
The goals were the 58th and 59th of his Champions League career, and the second took him to 36 for Manchester City, equalling Sergio Aguero as the club's joint-leading scorer in the competition.
Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund beat Villarreal 3-2 in a high-scoring affair, though the game was overshadowed when teenager Konstantinos Karetsas slumped to the turf 25 minutes into his Champions League debut and was taken to hospital for ‘circulatory problems’.
Aston Villa won 3-2 away at Club Brugge, Real Betis won by the same scoreline at Lille on their first appearance in the competition since 2005-06, and AEK Athens beat LASK 1-0.
Matchday 1 continues on Wednesday, with Arsenal travelling to Napoli, Liverpool hosting Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain beginning the defence of their title against Slovan Bratislava. Bayern Munich against Bodo/Glimt and Manchester United against Sabah close the round on Thursday.
Thirty-six clubs take part in the league phase this season, with the final scheduled for 5 June in Madrid.
