Rodri would have been 'cherry on top' but Madrid are ready

Real Madrid open their LaLiga season by visiting Espanyol on Saturday, and Jose Mourinho is confident they can compete with Barcelona for the title despite missing out on Rodri.

Mourinho, back for a second stint in the Spanish capital after leading Madrid between 2010 and 2013 to one LaLiga title, one Copa del Rey and one Supercopa de Espana, said signing Rodri would have been "the cherry on top" but is not a necessity.

"I don't think we have a deficit," Mourinho said when asked about Rodri's move to Barca. "Then you can ask, 'If you don't have a deficit, why did you want to sign Rodri?'"

"He would have been the cherry on top, he's a great player, he's a player with great experience, with great status. If we could have had him, we would have had him and we would have improved. But when you have Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde, Bernardo, Arda Guler … it's not that we have a problem or that we needed to go for another player."

Squad additions and pre-season issues

Ahead of Mourinho's return, Madrid have strengthened with the additions of Bernardo Silva, Marc Cucurella, Denzel Dumfries, Yan Diomande, Ibrahima Konate and Carlos Espi.

Madrid missed out on 2024 Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, with Spain's World Cup Golden Ball recipient joining Barcelona from Manchester City in a huge €76.5m deal.

Many of Madrid's star players — including Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Cucurella — have had shortened pre-seasons after going deep at the World Cup. Mourinho would give nothing away on his starting XI, saying: "The first XI? Let's see which of you has the best contacts. The players already know who is playing. I'm not someone who hides things."

"Maybe in a couple of hours your information will arrive, but I'm not going to tell you. To answer your question about whether I have an ideal XI – I don't, or I don't want to have one. It's another season, another game. Some players have had 36 training sessions and six games, others five training sessions and only part of a game. There are exceptional players and an exceptional staff, and I've been able to prepare differentiated work. I'm very happy with the situation."

Players to watch

Espanyol – Roberto Fernandez Fernandez

Fernandez has scored three goals in his last two LaLiga matches, one more than he managed in his previous 22 games in the competition. That includes his second brace in the top flight against Levante last weekend, so he will enter this game in high spirits.

Real Madrid – Vinicius Junior

Vinicius has scored five goals in 11 LaLiga appearances against Espanyol, with three of those coming in his six league visits to the RCDE Stadium. The Brazilian has not scored more goals at any other away ground in the Spanish top flight, and he will be desperate to make a scoring start to Madrid's new era.

Match context

Mourinho has not lost any of his six games against Espanyol in LaLiga (W4 D2) — the joint-most matches he has overseen against any team in the competition without ever losing.

Madrid are playing their opening game a week later than most sides, with Espanyol already having three points on the board after a 3-0 victory over Levante.

Real Madrid have not lost on the opening matchday in any of the last 17 LaLiga seasons (W12 D5), since a 2-1 defeat against Deportivo de A Coruna in August 2008. Los Blancos have won 110 of their 180 LaLiga meetings with Espanyol (D33 L37), a record for the most wins by one team against another in the league's history. Espanyol have lost 11 of their 15 LaLiga games at the RCDE Stadium against Madrid (W3 D1).

Opta win probability: Espanyol 15.6%, Real Madrid 62.4%, Draw 22%.