​Jose Mourinho talks Vinicius, Valverde, Tchouameni, Rodri ahead of Espanyol vs Real MadridReal Madrid are set to return to La Liga action tomorrow, on Saturday, when they face Espanyol for the matchday 2 of the new league season. However, this will be their first game, because their matchday 1 fixture was postponed because of the World Cup.The Merengues have brought a lot of changes to their team during the summer, and the fans are understandably very excited to see their team play. The most prominent and influential of these changes has been the arrival of Jose Mourinho, who has taken over from Alvaro Arbeloa as the team’s head coach.As MARCA has reported, the Portuguese coach today addressed the first press conference of his second stint at Real Madrid, and talked to some length with the journalists. He answered up to 20 questions, and spent 42 minutes interacting with these journalists.The Portuguese manager started by praising Espanyol, who have already played their first game of the La Liga 2026-27 campaign:“It’s a good team. Teams that have had the same manager for a long time are well-prepared teams. They play well and with ambition. I really liked their first match, and there they are, with three points in the table and their fans happy. We’re prepared for what we’re going to face.”Mourinho highlighted some of the problems he faced during this preseason:“I’m fine. It’s the first official match of the season. I’m calm. It’s another season and another match. The squad has the difficulty of starting at different times. Some players have had 36 training sessions and five matches, others fewer. I’ve also been able to prepare differentiated work for everyone. There were moments when it was one player for ten people… But I’m happy with the situation. If you tell me I have another week to prepare things, I’ll say yes, but we’re tired of friendlies.”The Real Madrid coach gave an update on the physical condition of his players:“The injuries from last season are long-term injuries, and I don’t expect those players to recover within a week. The only player who is out for this match is Endrick, who has a minor muscular issue. Tchouameni is fine and is training with the team. He needs to train today, tomorrow and Sunday to speed up his recovery process.”The Portuguese tactician made it clear he was not feeling any pressure ahead of the start of the season:“I wouldn’t call it pressure; I’d call it adrenaline, which comes and is positive. I want it, and the day I don’t feel it, something is wrong. But I don’t feel pressure about the debut. I feel confident in the work we’ve done. I have a lot of confidence in the players’ ambition and mentality, and in the passion they show me every day. Tomorrow, when we get on the plane, we’ll be convinced that we’re going to come back with three points.”Mourinho clarified some of the comments from the new signing Yan Diomande, who recently declared that he wo