Real Madrid head coach Jose Mourinho has admitted to concerns over his missing players and described his depleted squad as showing “three faces” in their friendly draw with Fiorentina in Austria.
Smart finishes by Endrick and 18-year-old winger Alexis Ciria put Mourinho’s new club 2-0 ahead after 24 minutes against their Serie A opponents, only for Roberto Piccoli’s strike before the break and Moise Kean’s header during the second half to secure La Viola a positive result.
“[Our] fresh side played very well,” said Mourinho, who is in his second spell as boss after joining from Benfica in June, speaking to Real Madrid TV (via AS).
“With a first half of such high quality, [the team] could have easily have been winning three or four to zero.
“Then the game became much more physical, [Fiorentina] put us under pressure, and the second face emerged.”
Real Madrid vs Fiorentina: Mourinho ‘liked everything’
Mourinho believes his starting centre-back pairing of 18-year-old Joan Martinez and 19-year-old Mario Rivas had a “fantastic game” but are “physically not yet at the level” to deal with former Juventus and Everton striker Kean.
“The third face, which I really liked, is the extremely tired team [who] still managed to be a team [and] managed to regain control of the game,” he added, predicting a “fantastic future” for Martinez and Rivas, who he said showed “tremendous class”.
The Portuguese singled out new signing Denzel Dumfries, who started on the right wing with Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Endrick, who was returning after Brazil’s World Cup campaign, as well as forward Carlos Espi, a recruit from Levante for around £21.4 million this week.
“[Dumfries and Endrick] trained for three days and played more than 70 minutes,” explained Mourinho. “A fantastic effort that means a lot to me. I thanked them for what they gave us. I liked everything.
“Then we brought in poor Carlos, who’s waking up from a dream. He trained for an hour yesterday and helped us today to understand what Real Madrid is all about.”
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While Mourinho was “very happy” with his squad’s work, the 63-year-old is anxious about a lack of time on the training pitch with key players who are resting after the World Cup.
Madrid travel to Espanyol in their La Liga opener on August 22 (20:30 BST). “I’m worried about not having the others,” conceded Mourinho.
“I’d like to have three weeks with all of them too, but it’s not possible. Vini [Vinicius Junior], Brahim [Diaz] and Bernardo Silva arrive on Monday.
“Dumfries, Carlos, and Endrick will have more days of training… and so on until the others arrive. Of the seven first-team players we had available [against Fiorentina], two of them have only had three training sessions.
“This is Real Madrid with the players we have. As I told the lads before the match: Real Madrid is Real Madrid, even in friendlies.
“I had to put on the pitch the men – in quotes – I had available. We only worked yesterday; we did some organisational work.”
The result is the first time Jose Mourinho has failed to win since his return to Madrid, having overseen two friendly victories in July.
Real Madrid team vs Fiorentina
Mourinho did not make his first change until he brought on Jorge Cestero for Ciria in the 64th minute.
Espi came off the bench in the 75th minute. Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Aurelien Tchouameni, Ibrahima Konate and Marc Cucurella are among the players yet to return to training.
Antonio Rudiger has rejoined the squad after his post-World Cup break but the defender was not involved.
Real Madrid starting XI: Andriy Lunin, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joan Martinez, Mario Rivas, Alvaro Carreras, Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde, Arda Guler, Denzel Dumfries, Alexis Ciria, Endrick
Real Madrid substitutes: Sergio Mestre, Javi Navarro, Carlos Espi, Lamini Fati, Jesus Fortea, Jorge Cestero, Pablo Lacosta, Aimar Garcia, Daniel Yanez, Jacobo
