Mourinho: Madrid 'growing' and understanding my character

Jose Mourinho believes his Real Madrid team are slowly beginning to come together after claiming their fourth successive win in LaLiga against Racing Santander on Sunday. 

Madrid backed up their victory in last week's Clasico with a 3-0 win at Campos de Sport de El Sardinero, with Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Yan Diomande all scoring. 

Los Blancos took the lead in the 11th minute when Mbappe, fresh from finishing second in Monday's Ballon d'Or rankings, won and dispatched a penalty past Julen Agirrezabala.

Bellingham doubled Madrid's lead 10 minutes later and netted his 50th goal for the club in all competitions in what was his 154th appearance. 

Diomande added further gloss to the scoreline during a dominant 45 minutes, thundering into the roof of the net as Madrid scored three goals in the first half of a LaLiga away match for the first time since May 2024 against Villarreal at the Estadio de la Ceramica (four).

Madrid's victory ensured they remain within three points of Barcelona in the table, with Atletico Madrid ahead of them in second by one point after beating Levante on Saturday. 

"We are not 100% yet, but we are growing. Less than four months is little, but we are progressive," Mourinho said of the progress his team had made since taking charge.

"I have been understanding things that I did not understand on the first day. The players understand my character better as a coach, because character as a person is secondary.

"They understand things that, for me, are non-negotiable. There is good human empathy, let's say. A good empathy between players and coach.

"We're fine. But let's see this week, because there are two complicated games coming up. And each one is important."

Mourinho has now not lost any of his five LaLiga games against Racing (W4 D1), with his side keeping a clean sheet in each of the last three.

But it was his attack who stole the show here. Mbappe has now scored against all 24 opponents he has faced in LaLiga (68 goals).

The Frenchman has also netted 18 penalty goals in the competition. No player has achieved more since the 2024-25 campaign (Ante Budimir also 18).

Diomande, meanwhile, became the first Madrid player to score four or more goals and provide four or more assists this season across all competitions, and the first to achieve two goals from outside the box.

Trent Alexander-Arnold also played the duration of the encounter amid speculation surrounding his future, and Mourinho believes his team are in a good spot at this moment. 

"As I said, the team is improving, the players are also at a high level of confidence. Football is played by men and women," Mourinho added.

"They are men and women who play football, not 'male and female players'. The emotional aspect also counts for a lot. When things go well, they seem to go well for everyone.

"You change and bring in a Trent who hasn't played for a few games and I do it with the awareness that against an opponent who presses a lot, his technical quality would be better for the start than putting Dumfries on.

"And they play an optimal, very balanced game. When the timing is good, things seem to be better than they really are. But the truth is that I am happy."