LaLiga president Javier Tebas. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Parking the bus. That’s the verdict history has handed down on Jose Mourinho – repeated so often that it has calcified into fact. It’s like a half-truth, enough to make it stick, but never quite enough to make it whole.

But Mourinho has worn it the way a magician wears a top hat: perfectly tailored, endlessly convenient, and never, not for one second, the whole trick.

Call him defensive, and you have only named the shadow he casts, not the man casting it. His teams defend well not because attack frightens him, but because chaos does. Evidently, in a Mourinho side, nothing is left to chance, more so when the motions of the game have already strangled every other variable into submission.

Pragmatism is the colder, harder word – less quotable and less fun to chant from the grandstands. So the easier opinion has survived instead, passed down like folklore.

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Just as false is the myth that his touchline is where creativity goes to die – a graveyard for gifted men. Every successful Mourinho side has had one player built into its architecture so completely that the team’s pulse becomes indistinguishable from his own.

Deco did not wither at FC Porto. Mesut Ozil did not shrink at Real Madrid. Wesley Sneijder did not dim at Inter Milan. Eidur Gudjohnsen and Oscar were not sacrificed on some altar of defensive orthodoxy at Chelsea. The names change, the pattern doesn’t.

That graveyard, as it turns out, was never there. Detractors simply needed it to exist, and told the story so many times that absence began to look like proof.

Elevating the whole

And now, in the early light of his second reign in the Spanish capital – a squad glittering with names built for newspaper headlines and highlight reels – Mourinho has once again refused the obvious altar.

The Portuguese is neither building his cathedral around Kylian Mbappe’s blistering speed nor around Vinicius Junior’s dazzling, unpredictable chaos, talented as both unquestionably are.

The ‘Special One’ is building it around Jude Bellingham. Because, when Bellingham ticks, Madrid ticks with him.

Mourinho did not ease the 23-year-old in gently. Just a week after he rejoined the squad following an extended break granted to Madrid’s World Cup contingent, the Englishman started centrally in the season-opener against Espanyol, pushing Bernardo Silva deeper and shifting Arda Guler wider.

If Bellingham was short of match fitness, it never showed. Everything coherent Madrid did that afternoon ran through him, like current through a wire. That he broke the deadlock himself, registering the first goal of Mourinho’s Madrid comeback, only made the script sweeter.

Mourinho has found a structure that lets Bellingham defend without shackling his attacking instincts, and the early signs are quite validating: two goals and as many assists from four league games, another goal directly created and the post rattled for good measure.

“He is a unique and extremely important player, one with diverse talents, from physical to mental and tactical. He also has the ability to win back possession, press effectively and score goals, especially in the air. He is an absolutely impressive player,” Mourinho gushed ahead of the contest against Malaga. In the 4-0 win, Bellingham scored one and assisted one.

Leading by example

Bellingham is the first Madrid player to contribute to at least four goals through the opening three matches of a league campaign since – fittingly – he himself did it, managing four goals and one assist upon first arriving on Spanish shores back in 2023. In fact, he had become the first Real Madrid player to score in each of his first four games since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.

The numbers are starting to rhyme with the ones that made him a phenomenon in the first place.

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But this tells only a part of the Bellingham story. He has been among Madrid’s leading players in ball recoveries, chance creation and successful passes in the opposition half. He is helping Los Blancos progress possession, break lines, and win duels in the midfield. He presses like a man late for something urgent, creates like an artist with time to spare, and yet arrives in the box to finish the moves he himself started.

Here, there, everywhere

He is omnipresent on the pitch – at the shoulder of every teammate like a ghostly butler anticipating a need before it’s spoken, or hounding opponents like a sweat-inducing nightmare they can’t quite wake up from.

“Now I play with a bit more freedom, with the liberty to move further up or down the pitch, depending on our needs. I’m having a lot of fun, I’m really enjoying my football, and that’s why I’m performing well,” he declared after the triumph over Malaga.

In simple terms, what Mourinho is attempting is a kind of resurrection: coaxing back the version of Bellingham last seen in 2023-24, the one which scored 23 goals and set up 13 more in an astounding debut season.

England, for its part, would attest that the lad from the Midlands is at his most dangerous when he is at the centre of a team’s creative output – witness seven goals and an assist in eight matches at this summer’s World Cup, once he was finally deployed where he belonged.

And Madrid needs this every bit as much as Mourinho. The club must start restocking its trophy cabinet, so must he, for this is his last chance saloon. That he is building Madrid’s future, and staking his own claim to a prolonged, top-of-the-line managerial career, around Bellingham is not really a decision. It’s a no-brainer dressed up as a gamble.

The new main event

Madrid’s road ahead is no procession. Barcelona is playing like it has found a cheat code – seventeen goals scored already, and only two conceded. The fight for European glory looks no gentler, even if it began well enough with a 2-1 win over Inter Milan.

But if Madrid intends to mount serious title challenges on all fronts, it will need Bellingham to continue doing exactly what he’s doing now: running havoc from defense to attack, box to box, whistle to whistle.

The boy who once copied Brazilian Ronaldo’s Cascao haircut at Birmingham City FC could have grown up to be a footnote in someone else’s Real Madrid era – a talented supporting player orbiting Mbappe’s brilliance or Vinicius’ fireworks.

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But while Mbappe provides the spectacle and Vinicius the hustle, Bellingham provides the architecture. And architecture, in the end, is what outlasts everything else.

‘Hey Jude’ – that classic Beatles soundtrack of his debut season – had gone quiet last year, muffled under a run of injuries. Now, the Madrid faithful are singing it again, and for good reason. This, after all, is Bellingham’s team. He is not a supporting act dressed up in superstar company. He is the main attraction.

Mourinho spent more than 20 years making sure the story was always about him. Perhaps the last great plot twist is that he’s letting it be about someone else this time.

There were goals for Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland; and wins for Real Madrid and Manchester City as the Champions League returned Tuesday (September 8, 2026) for a new season.

Mbappe gave record 15-time champion Madrid an early lead en route to 2-1 victory over Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Haaland scored both goals as 2023 winner City beat Porto 2-0.

Madrid and City are expected to be among the main challengers to back-to-back defending champion Paris Saint-Germain this season, and each club will be relying on its star strikers.

Mbappe’s goal after 14 minutes was his 71st in European club soccer’s top continental competition and saw him move level with Madrid great Raúl in fifth place on the all-time scorers list. Haaland took his tally to 59 in 59 appearances in the Champions League.

Borussia Dortmund beat Villarreal 3-2, and Real Betis won by the same score at Lille.

Aston Villa also won 3-2 over Club Brugge, and AEK Athens had a 1-0 win over LASK. PSG begins its campaign Wednesday (September 9) against Slovan Bratislava.

Jose Mourinho made a winning return to the Champions League as Real Madrid coach, despite Inter dominating possession.

When Inter lost possession deep in its own half Brahim Diaz slid in Mbappe, who fired low past Josep Martinez.

The Inter goalkeeper was then guilty of indecision when Federico Valverde closed him down in his own area and poked the ball into an empty net.

Inter, which ended the game with 61% possession, set up a tense finish when Carlos Augusto scored in the 77th.

“There’s so much criticism when a game is boring, but today it was crazy — it could easily have ended 7-6,” Mourinho told broadcaster Movistar.

Mourinho won his second Champions League title with Inter in 2010 and is aiming to join the likes of Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique and Zinedine Zidane by lifting the trophy for a third time.

Unstoppable Haaland With five goals in his last three games, Haaland is in hot form. And it could have been even more if not for Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa’s first-half performance.

Haaland eventually found the breakthrough at Estadio do Dragao with a header two minutes into the second half. He side-footed City’s second in stoppage time to make certain of the win and ensure new coach Enzo Maresca’s 100% start continued.

“We have to learn. Enzo demands a lot from us and we have to demand a lot from each other,” Haaland told Amazon Prime. “We have to win games because at Man City, you have to win trophies. That’s what we have to do at this club.”

Villa kicks off with a win. Aston Villa put its domestic problems behind it with a win over Club Brugge.

Victory in Belgium ended Villa’s winless and goalless start to its 2026-27 season, after early struggles in the Premier League.

John McGinn recorded the first goal of the Champions League campaign with a sweeping low shot from an angle in the 11th minute. Hugo Vetlesen equalized for Brugge, but Emiliano Buendia and Nicolas Jackson put Villa 3-1 up by the break.

Nicolo Tresoldi scored for the home team with a penalty in the 61st, but Villa held on for the win.

Villa coach Unai Emery will hope victory sparks his team’s season after the summer departures of star players Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa and Emi Martinez.

His much-changed team lost to Brighton and Arsenal in the Premier League and picked up its first point of the season with a goalless draw against newly promoted Hull City. It had recorded only one shot on target in those three games.

Borussia Dortmund teenager Konstantinos Karetsas was taken to hospital after slumping to the turf 25 minutes into his Champions League debut.

“Konstantinos Karetsas had to leave the field due to circulatory problems,” Dortmund said in a statement. Karetsas “is doing well under the circumstances and is on his way to the hospital for further tests.”

Serhou Guirassy scored three goals — two for Dortmund and one in his own net — in a frantic finish against Villarreal.

Guirassy gave Dortmund a 2-1 lead in the 80th and then struck again from the penalty spot five minutes later to make it 3-1. He then added an own goal in stoppage time to make it 3-2

Parrott strikes again It has been an eventful few days for Troy Parrott.

The Ireland international scored his first goal for new club Betis with a late winner against Madrid on Friday (September 4) and he was on target again with the decisive goal in the 3-2 win in Lille.

AEK Athens beat LASK 1-0 thanks to Razvan Marin’s brilliant first-half free kick.

Published – September 09, 2026 11:17 am IST

Ivory Coast’s Yan Diomande.
| Photo Credit: AP

Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Garcia.
| Photo Credit: AP

Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde, right, with Aurelien Tchouameni. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe, center, and Vinicius Jr., left, disagree with referee Slavko Vincic during the Champions League quarterfinal second leg soccer match between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in Munich, Germany, Wednesday, April 15, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

Real Madrid swept Manchester City aside to qualify for the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday, while Paris Saint-Germain rubber-stamped their spot in the next round by thrashing French rivals Brest. Kylian Mbappe struck twice in the first half before completing his hat-trick on the hour at the Santiago Bernabeu as the European champions won the return leg of the play-off tie 3-1 to complete a 6-3 aggregate victory. “I said it (before), I didn’t come to Real Madrid to play badly,” Mbappe told Movistar. “Making my dream come true is one thing, but I want to play well here, mark an era and make history at Real Madrid.”

Carlo Ancelotti’s side will face either city rivals Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen, coached by former Real midfielder Xabi Alonso, in the last 16, for which the draw will made on Friday.

“The best team won, they deserve to be there and we don’t,” said City boss Pep Guardiola.

After two late goals last week swung the balance considerably in Madrid’s favour, City suffered another blow before kick-off in Spain with Erling Haaland only considered fit enough to start on the bench.

Mbappe padded Madrid’s advantage with a fourth-minute lob, squeezing in between Ruben Dias and John Stones as he latched on to Raul Asencio’s long ball and lifted his effort over City goalkeeper Ederson.

The France striker rounded off a flowing team move with a sharp finish for Madrid’s second of the game, completing his hat-trick with a crisp left-footed shot from the edge of the area. 

Nico Gonzalez netted a consolation in stoppage time for City after Omar Marmoush’s powerful free-kick came back off the crossbar.

The lone real disappointment on the night for Madrid was a yellow card for Jude Bellingham that will rule the England midfielder out of the first leg of the last 16.

For City, the focus will switch to simply securing a place in next season’s Champions League after a disastrous domestic campaign for a team that won the last four Premier League titles. 

“It’s been our worst year… we’ve been an incredible team and this year, for many reasons, we have lost that consistency,” said Guardiola.

PSG demolished Brest 7-0 at the Parc des Princes as goals from seven different players propelled the in-form French champions to a 10-0 win over both legs.

Bradley Barcola and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored in the first half to eliminate any small doubts for the hosts, who showed no mercy with Vitinha, Desire Doue, Nuno Mendes, Goncalo Ramos and Senny Mayulu also on target.

It was PSG’s record winning margin in a European game. They scored just three goals in their first five Champions League matches this season, but have found the net 21 times in five outings since then.

“I think we are showing that winning everything is possible,” Kvaratskhelia told Canal Plus. “We come into every game to win and of course that is our goal and our dream. We will put everything into that.”

Luis Enrique’s men go on to a blockbuster clash with Liverpool or Barcelona, while Brest’s first-ever European campaign ended in sorry fashion against a club they have not beaten in 40 years. 

“It is pretty shameful to go out this way. To lose 7-0 is too much. Yes Paris are a great team and I hope they go all the way, but to lose 7-0 is unacceptable,” said Brest midfielder Pierre Lees-Melou.

PSV Eindhoven knocked out Juventus 4-3 on aggregate after extra time, overturning a first-leg deficit with a 3-1 win in the Netherlands.

Timothy Weah cancelled out Ivan Perisic‘s opener for PSV, but the hosts forced an additional 30 minutes with a goal from Ismael Saibari.

Defender Ryan Flamingo turned in from close range in the 98th minute to send PSV through at the expense of Thiago Motta‘s Juventus, with Arsenal or Inter Milan awaiting the Dutch side next month.

Borussia Dortmund progressed after a goalless draw at home to Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon sealed a 3-0 overall victory.

The competition’s leading scorer Serhou Guirassy missed a second-half penalty but it mattered for nothing in the end as last season’s runners-up were rarely troubled by Sporting.

Dortmund’s reward is a last-16 tie against Aston Villa or Lille. 

Real Madrid vs Manchester City Live Streaming, Champions League Live Telecast: When And Where To Watch© AFP

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said Tuesday his Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola was deliberately underestimating the English side’s hopes of reaching the Champions League last 16. European champions Madrid hold a 3-2 lead on City, who have struggled this season and are fourth in the Premier League, ahead of the play-off round second leg on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu. After thrashing Newcastle 4-0 on Saturday, Guardiola said English champions City have only a one percent chance of ousting the record 15-time European Cup winners.

“He does not truly think that, tomorrow I’ll ask him before the game — do you really think you’ve got a one percent chance?” Ancelotti told a news conference.

“He really thinks they’ve got more chance than that… we don’t think we have 99 percent chance.

“We think we have a small advantage that we have to take advantage of, and try to play the same game we set up in the first leg, which went well.”

Guardiola later admitted he also gave his team a bigger chance of progressing than he previously said.

“This time I lied to you,” said Guardiola.

“I always say what I think and you never believe me, but this time you are right…

“(After the first leg) nobody would have bet on us, the one percent was there, the truth is that the days pass, you get more excited, it’s not the best result for us to have taken but we will try to go through, for sure.”

Ancelotti confirmed defender Antonio Rudiger was fit to start for the holders after injury but Lucas Vazquez would only be ready for the bench.

City attackers Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish were able to train ahead of the game after injury issues and Guardiola said it was “good news” they had been able to travel to the Spanish capital.

Leave refs ‘in peace’

Ancelotti reiterated his frustration with Spanish refereeing, following some controversial decisions which went against his side in recent La Liga matches.

The Italian said he was more comfortable with refereeing in the Champions League.

“Statistics speak for themselves, in Europe there’s less controversy in this sense, there are less VAR interventions,” said Ancelotti.

“The VAR only intervenes when it’s necessary, and usually the Champions League features the best referees from each country, so the quality is very high in this sense.”

England international Jude Bellingham was sent off for dissent during Madrid’s 1-1 draw at Osasuna on Saturday in La Liga.

Bellingham’s team-mate Federico Valverde said he did not want the midfielder to change his ways.

“What I want is players who leave their soul out on the pitch, in this case with Jude in the last game, I always want him to be like that,” Valverde told reporters.

“Jude is a player who shows character, who always wants to win, who always wants to fight.

“This time he got a red card, but I like that he’s giving everything, his spikiness… we have to stay united as a team.”

The referee who dismissed Bellingham, Jose Munuera Montero, has been subject to online abuse in recent days and according to Spanish reports is being investigated over an alleged conflict of interest with links to a sports consultancy agency.

Guardiola gave his opinion on Bellingham’s dismissal.

“The problem is not the translation, it’s the intention? You have to ask Jude what intention he had… you can insult someone with a big smile and it can be nice,” said the coach.

“Have you seen they are investigating the referee now… wow, leave them in peace.

“That’s the best thing that we can do, leave them in peace.”

Guardiola, who led City to their first Champions League triumph in 2023 said his team needed to play an almost “perfect” game to progress.

“You have to make an almost perfect game, obviously the (first leg) result is not good,” added Guardiola.

“(A) bad result is not the perfect situation, we have to attack, we have to score goals. This is the idea.”