Mourinho’s Real Madrid concern: Four players need careful handling on international duty

Jose Mourinho believes the current international break could benefit Real Madrid, but only if national-team coaches manage the squad according to the individual needs of each player.

The club’s players fall into two contrasting groups. Some need valuable match time to regain sharpness or maintain their rhythm, while others require a period of rest after a demanding run of fixtures.

Real Madrid head into the break in excellent form, having won eight consecutive matches in all competitions. Their latest victory was a 3-0 success against Valencia at Mestalla, and Mourinho wants the team to return from international duty with the same momentum they had when the players left.

The Portuguese manager would like Endrick and Vinicius Junior to play a prominent role for Brazil, while Brahim Diaz and Tiago Pitarch are also expected to benefit from involvement with their national teams. Pitarch is with Spain Under-21s.

Mourinho does not regard those four players as a source of concern. Instead, he believes international appearances could help them either preserve their match fitness or recover their best form.

His main worry is focused on players who have accumulated a large number of minutes. Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Cucurella and Diomande are the four players he believes would benefit most from being rested during the break.

Their need for recovery comes after Real Madrid played three successive away matches within six days. The travelling involved, combined with the tight schedule, has placed an additional physical burden on the squad, according to a report by Defensa Central.

Mourinho referred to those concerns after the victory over Valencia and urged national-team coaches not to treat his players in the same way they had been handled during the previous period. He asked them to take account of the fatigue caused by the recent sequence of matches.

“I have to be humble because La Liga has the authority, and I ask them not to do the same thing to us,” Mourinho said.

“I do not want to describe it as something supernatural, because it is possible, but it is extremely difficult. If they want to repeat this joke, let them do it with somebody else and leave us alone after the marathon of travel and matches we had from Sunday to Saturday. It was too much.”

Mourinho has made every effort to remind both his players and the national-team coaches of the need for caution during the international break. His aim is to ensure the pressure created by the fixture schedule does not undermine Real Madrid’s positive results.

The report also notes that Real Madrid have rarely looked as stable as they do at this stage of the season. In previous campaigns, the regular loss of players through injury had become a familiar problem, but the club currently hopes to protect its squad and maintain that stability.