Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid face early away test as Espanyol revive last season’s warning

Real Madrid begin their La Liga campaign away to Espanyol on Saturday, with Jose Mourinho’s side carrying an uncomfortable record on the road into their first league fixture of the season.

The match, which comes in the second round of the competition, will see the returning Real Madrid manager take charge of his first La Liga game of the campaign. The Spanish club travel to face their Catalan opponents at the RCDE Stadium, where they will attempt to put an end to concerns surrounding their recent away form.

Those concerns stem from a pattern that affected Real Madrid last season under former manager Alvaro Arbeloa. According to Opta statistics, the club have lost three of their past seven away matches in La Liga.

Across that sequence, Real Madrid have recorded three victories and one draw alongside the three defeats. The figures represent a significant decline compared with their form before the current run began.

In the previous 17 away matches in the league, Real Madrid had suffered only two defeats. During that earlier spell, they collected 12 wins and three draws, highlighting the contrast between their previous consistency on their travels and the more difficult period that followed.

The three losses in the latest seven-match sequence came against Barcelona, Real Mallorca and Osasuna. Real Madrid were beaten 2-0 by Barcelona, lost 2-1 at Real Mallorca and suffered another 2-1 defeat away to Osasuna.

That record provides the backdrop to their meeting with Espanyol and ensures that their performance away from home will be closely examined from the start of the new campaign. The match also offers Mourinho’s side the opportunity to respond immediately to the concerns created by their results under Arbeloa last season.

Despite the wider sequence of disappointing away results, Real Madrid did finish last season with a victory on the road. Their final away match of the campaign ended in a 1-0 win at Sevilla.

That success means the latest result away from home was positive, although the three defeats in the preceding seven league fixtures remain the more prominent feature of the statistics published by Opta.

Real Madrid will therefore go into the game against Espanyol seeking not only a strong start to the new La Liga campaign but also greater reliability in away fixtures. Their recent record includes clear evidence of both problems and recovery: three defeats, three wins and a draw in the last seven league matches away from home, followed by victory at Sevilla in their most recent away outing.

The contest at the RCDE Stadium is consequently an early test of whether the unwanted pattern associated with Arbeloa’s season will continue to follow the club under Mourinho, or whether Real Madrid can establish a different direction from the outset.