From a 'humiliating' 0-2 to a 1-2 at Camp Nou: Real Madrid back from the dead

From a 'humiliating' 0-2 to a 1-2 at Camp Nou: Real Madrid back from the dead

On November 25, Florentino Pérez has a date in court. That is the fact hanging over Real Madrid's entire 2026/27 season and the one that, underneath it all, explains why a club that started the campaign with a defeat described as 'humiliating' has ended up storming Camp Nou with a 1-2 win. In between came a comeback many swore was impossible and a four-match suspension for Vinicius that changed the team without anyone planning it.

The season began on the wrong foot. The early stretch of the league left Madrid nine points behind Barcelona and the fans demanding 'heads roll', starting with the coach's and moving on to the most expensive player in the club's history. The league, they said, was 'over by September'. It wasn't, but the diagnosis made sense: a team that only showed up in the 89th minute and relied on heroics to win games it should have settled through play.

Mourinho, the return and the domino effect

Mourinho's return worked the way a solvent does: first it swept away what was there, then it started to build. The key was not tactical but hierarchical. When the Portuguese coach benched Vinicius and a midfielder singled out by the stands, the team changed its skin in a single match. The sending-off and subsequent four-match ban for the Brazilian — which many considered too lenient — coincided with Madrid's best run of the season.

Some argue Madrid won not because of Mourinho but in spite of him, and that the credit belongs to the substitutes demanding minutes. The counterargument weighs against it: without the decision to bench the untouchables, those substitutes would still be on the bench. The debate remains open and probably won't be settled until the season ends.

The 1-2 at Camp Nou and the refereeing narrative

The match at Camp Nou produced a 'deserved' win that, according to the most common reading, could have been more emphatic, with Courtois's absence as the main caveat. But what was really debated afterwards was not the play but the refereeing. The dominant thesis is that there was 'neutral officiating out of self-interest' and that the usual robberies will come in the matches ahead. In other words: even winning brings no truce for the refereeing establishment.

The red card for Cancelo that was never given, the disallowed handball against Betis and the offside lines all got mixed into the conversation with the zaineira case, the 8.4 million that, according to the thread's claim, Barcelona paid a company linked to the vice-president of the referees' committee (CTA) for 18 years. The figure keeps appearing as ammunition, although the legal question — whether those payments constitute a crime — remains unresolved.

Mbappé, the gesture that proved costly

The other major front was off the pitch. Mbappé's reference to a communist dictator at a public event led to an official statement of utmost respect and a diplomatic storm with China that, by some estimates, will cost the club money. The harshest reading is that the player will have to apologize and that the episode reveals a damage-control problem in the club's communications.

The case left a curiosity that sums up the level of the controversy: while some demanded apologies to the Chinese people, others pointed out that the same player had posed with shirts supporting Ceuta without anyone issuing a statement. Consistency, in the Real Madrid of 2026, is a scarce commodity.

The dressing room, the institution and the old man in the box

The harshest criticism was not aimed at the coach but at the structure. A president who threatens to cancel his subscription to a media outlet, players fighting in the parking lot, a traffic accident from drunk driving and a video of a minor that ended up in court. The institution, they say, is 'up to its neck in shit' while the directors' box looks the other way.

The sporting balance, however, contradicts the pessimism: five trophyless seasons are taken for granted, yet the team competes. The question left hanging is whether Mourinho's Madrid is a project or a patch. With Florentino in court on November 25, the answer may arrive sooner through the courts than on the pitch.