La Liga 2026-27 — Mourinho admits Real Madrid lacks control ahead of derby

Jose Mourinho has won five of his first six matches as Real Madrid manager. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has admitted that his side struggles to exert control games ahead of this weekend’s derby against local rival Atletico Madrid.

Real is currently second in the table, trailing leader Barcelona by three points, and has struggled to restrict its opponents so far, instead relying on its attacking dynamism to win matches.

“The problem seems obvious to me. It’s harder to know why, but it’s easy to understand that there are matches that seem over and, in the end, aren’t,” said Mourinho.

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“(There are) matches where we have three, four, five chances to finish them and don’t.

“After failing to do so, it feels like we go from ease, because it seemed easy, to losing control.”

Mourinho said that remedying its defensive issues would be an area of concern for the side beyond Sunday’s match as well.

“Not just for Sunday’s match, but for every match. I like my team to score goals... but I also like controlling matches,” explained Mourinho.

“I don’t like gifting control. It’s not about the goals, it’s about giving away control of the match.”