Real Madrid reappoint José Mourinho ahead of 2026-27 La Liga with aim to unseat Barcelona
Real Madrid have reappointed José Mourinho as manager ahead of the 2026-27 La Liga season, with the Portuguese coach charged with trying to displace Barcelona, who have won the last two league titles. The decision followed promises from club president Florentino Pérez during snap elections in June and was announced during the World Cup period.
Mourinho returns to a club and a country that the preview compares to his first tenure in 2010: he previously won La Liga with 100 points, and key figures such as Pérez remain influential. Jorge Valdano said: “Almost 15 years have passed: football is no longer the same, society is not the same, Florentino is no longer the same, and Mourinho certainly won’t be either,” he told A Bola. The appointment was handled directly by Pérez after José Ángel Sánchez had been linked with appointing Xabi Alonso last summer.
Real Madrid endured a turbulent 2025-26 season, which included the sacking of Xabi Alonso, a chaotic interim spell under Álvaro Arbeloa, and a campaign that ended trophyless after losing the clásico where they conceded the title. Federico Valverde was hospitalised for stitches following a bust-up with Aurélien Tchouaméni, and an online petition calling for Kylian Mbappé to leave reached 30 million signatures. There was ongoing speculation over Vinícius Júnior’s future when he had 12 months left on his contract.
On transfers and squad construction, Madrid saw a £129m bid for Julián Álvarez rejected by Atlético Madrid and purchased the £115m winger Yan Diomandé, who had been playing for Leganés B in Spain’s fifth tier last year and made his Leganés first-team debut at the Bernabéu in March 2025. Diomandé wrote in the Players’ Tribune about his sister Roxane, who died aged 15 after her drink was spiked weeks after his La Liga debut. The club also signed Marc Cucurella, Bernardo Silva, Ibrahima Konaté, Denzel Dumfries and the 6ft 4in striker Carlos Espí, and announced that Vinícius signed a new six-year deal: “Vinícius has become one of the most important players in one of the most successful periods in our history,” the club said.
Mourinho began work a month before his contract officially started, has not held a public unveiling and limited his remarks to an in-house interview where he said: “It’s not about working at Real Madrid, it is working for Real Madrid.” The new regime avoided a global summer tour in favour of low-key friendlies across Europe. Mourinho’s recent profile was boosted by Benfica’s Champions League escape from Madrid last season, notable for Anatoliy Trubin’s late goal, but his comments after Vinícius accused Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni of racist abuse attracted criticism from Kick It Out as “a form of gaslighting”; Prestianni was ultimately banned by Uefa for “homophobic conduct.” Álvaro Arbeloa summed up the appointment with: “Mourinho is Mourinho.”
The preview outlines wider league changes: Racing Santander return to the top flight for the first time since 2012 and have signed Sergio Canales, now 35, who said: “I’m still struggling to believe this is real.” Deportivo and Málaga are back in La Liga for the first time since 2018, with Deportivo’s marquee signing a 37-year-old Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Diego Simeone begins his 15th full season at Atlético Madrid, who have signed Lee Kang-in from Paris Saint-Germain and given him Antoine Griezmann’s No 7 shirt; Manuel Pellegrini remains in charge of Real Betis; Villarreal have appointed Iñigo Pérez after his time at Rayo Vallecano; Pellegrino Matarazzo leads Real Sociedad after their Copa del Rey triumph in April; and Edin Terzic becomes Athletic Club’s coach, the first German in that post since Jupp Heynckes in 2003, to whom Heynckes said: “Athletic is the only club where a handshake is more important than a signature.”
Barcelona are still regarded as title favourites despite departures such as Robert Lewandowski to MLS and Antoine Griezmann, and with ongoing speculation around Atlético holding firm on Álvarez. Anthony Gordon has joined to compete for a place against Raphinha on the left, while Karim Adeyemi offers limited competition on the other flank; Lamine Yamal, 19, returned from the World Cup as a world champion and is expected to play a leading role under Hansi Flick if he is to match Pep Guardiola’s achievement of three successive league titles. The first clásico is scheduled for the Camp Nou at the end of October.
La Liga’s start is staggered because Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético had players involved in the later stages of the extended World Cup, meaning none are in action on the opening weekend, and the league president Javier Tebas warned that Gianni Infantino’s projects are “destroying” the national leagues. The season will open with José Bordalás’s Getafe hosting Quique Sánchez Flores’s Alavés.