'I liked everything' – Mourinho impressed by 'three-faced' Real Madrid

Jose Mourinho said he "liked everything" about Real Madrid's performance in their 2-2 draw with Fiorentina, which kick-started their official pre-season.

Madrid had twice won friendlies behind closed doors, but they could not continue their winning start as they squandered a two-goal lead.

Endrick and Alexis Ciria both scored in the opening 24 minutes, but Roberto Piccoli and Moises Kean cancelled that out before the hour-mark.

Mourinho had more of his first-team players returning to action, with Denzel Dumfries making his debut, and the 63-year-old was pleased with what he saw.

"I liked everything. I arrived in the locker room and saw on my phone 'a two-faced Madrid'. It was a three-faced Madrid: fresh, tired, and extremely tired," he said.

"The fresh side played very well. The 2-1 score at half-time is a very low score. It was a first half of exceptional quality.

"The second half became more physical against a typical Italian team. They put us under pressure. Then, with Moise Kean, he played in the box with two 18-year-olds, who had a fantastic game, although they're not at the level of a beast like Kean.

"I also liked the extremely tired side, who knew how to control the game. Dumfries and Endrick trained for three days and played more than 70 minutes. A fantastic effort that has meaning. I liked everything. I thanked [Fiorentina head coach Fabio] Grosso."

Madrid enjoyed more possession and just edged the shot count, having 11 efforts (four on target) to Fiorentina's 10 (three on target).

Los Blancos only accumulated 0.8 expected goals (xG), though, with Fiorentina finishing the match with 1.0 xG, despite Madrid only allowing them 15 touches in the box.

"It's Real Madrid with the players we have. As I told the lads before the match, Real Madrid is Real Madrid, even if it's a friendly," Mourinho added.

"We have to look for improvement, but also dignity. I had to put on the players I had available, like Trent [Alexander-Arnold] and Dumfries. We don't just train for one match.

"On the pitch, the team knows what it has to do. Joan [Martinez] and Mario [Rivas] have a fantastic future; even physically, they've been incredibly sharp. Of the seven available, two have trained for three days.

"Then there's [new signing Carlos] Espi, who's still waking up from a dream and has only trained for an hour. He helped us. I'm happy.

"I'd like to have three weeks of work with other players. Vinicius [Junior], Bernardo [Silva], Brahim [Diaz] are arriving... That's how it is."