Small detail that made Mourinho extremely satisfied ahead of Real Madrid's new season

Real Madrid have added another victory during the pre-season preparation, but what pleased "The Special One" Jose Mourinho the most was not the scoreline.

Real Madrid concluded a friendly match against Schalke with a positive result, thereby maintaining a favorable preparation momentum before the official season begins. However, when appearing before the media after the match, Jose Mourinho did not spend much time talking about the victory.

"The most important thing is that the players feel excited. If the fans are excited, I am excited, the president is excited, but they are not, we will have a problem", Mourinho shared.

According to "The Special One", he is seeing that very excitement in the Real Madrid dressing room.

Notably, Mourinho did not use goals, combinations, or friendly results as evidence. What he mentioned was a very small detail that clearly showed the players' attitude.

Some Real Madrid members were allowed to return at a certain time after the break but proactively reported earlier than planned. Meanwhile, the players who returned latest also pleased Mourinho because they had prepared their fitness very seriously before arriving at the training center.

For Mourinho, that is a much more important signal than a victory in August. Real Madrid possess many stars, but the challenge for any coach at the Bernabeu is always to turn a collection of outstanding individuals into a real team.

"We are playing as a collective. There is empathy, there is team spirit. The team is beginning to really look like a team", he emphasized.

Besides the overall spirit, the Portuguese tactician also praised the group of newly assembled players. According to Mourinho, the group that started training from the first day has undergone about 30 training sessions and 6 matches. Meanwhile, some players who just returned have only had three or four sessions with the whole team. Therefore, differences in rhythm, intensity, and tactical adaptation are inevitable.

Nevertheless, Mourinho assessed that the adaptation process is going in the right direction.

"Tactically, ideas are gradually taking shape. The players have outstanding quality, incredible quality. We are working very well as a team, both with and without the ball", he said.

That is also the reason why Real Madrid are being very cautious in allocating playing time for each player.

Kylian Mbappe was used for 45 minutes, while Konate, Jude Bellingham, Cucurella, and Diomande only played about 30 minutes.

Mourinho affirmed that these are not random decisions. Real Madrid's coaching staff are relying on physical data, scientific parameters, and more importantly, the players' own feelings about their bodies to determine the appropriate workload.

"At this point of the season, we entered this week in a very good state. This was a very good test, a very good final training session before the real work begins. The real work is competing, fighting for points. That's what we love.", Mourinho asserted.