Mourinho’s Real Madrid face three away games in six days

Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory over Barcelona has cut the gap at the top of La Liga to three points, but Jose Mourinho’s side now face one of their most demanding spells of the season.

The win at Camp Nou on Sunday, in the 10th round of La Liga, gave Real Madrid an important boost in the title race. However, they must now play three away matches in the six days before the final international break of the year.

Their demanding sequence begins against Racing Santander on Sunday, 1 November at 16:15. Real Madrid then travel to Greece to face AEK Athens in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, 4 November at 18:45.

The run concludes at Mestalla against Valencia on Saturday, 7 November at 21:00.

Mourinho has criticised the scheduling in recent weeks, describing it as unfair. The Portuguese believes the match against Valencia could at least have been played on the Sunday, which would have given his players an additional day to recover.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Mourinho’s complaint has merit. However, the Catalan newspaper also noted that Real Madrid themselves asked La Liga to arrange their away fixture during the 12th round of the competition.

That request was reportedly linked to commercial considerations surrounding the hosting of an NFL match at the club’s stadium.

Despite the congested itinerary, Real Madrid’s immediate objective is to extend their unbeaten run to six matches. Their current five-game sequence without defeat is their best of the season so far.

That run has helped them reach fourth place in the UEFA Champions League standings with a maximum nine points, while also preventing them from losing further ground in La Liga.

The matches against Racing Santander, AEK Athens and Valencia will test both the squad’s depth and its ability to maintain momentum across two competitions in a short period.

Real Madrid are expected to be favourites in most of their remaining fixtures before the end of the year. The notable exception is their final European match of 2026, when they will face Arsenal in London on 9 December.

Arsenal are described as the reigning English Premier League champions, making that fixture the most difficult assignment remaining on Real Madrid’s schedule this year.