Breaking Barcelona’s period of dominance was the goal in Mourinho’s first spell in charge of Real, and the mission is the same second time around.
And the self-proclaimed Special One’s sophomore reign got off to the perfect start inside the opening 10 minutes, as Jude Bellingham climbed highest inside the area to power home Arda Guler’s teasing free-kick at the near post.
Espanyol were visibly rattled by Real’s intensity and high pressure, but so nearly hit back midway through the half when Clemens Riedel’s 30-yard piledriver forced Thibaut Courtois to make a smart stop.
That pot-shot from distance seemed to spur the hosts into life, and they managed to peg Mourinho’s men back moments later. Javi Hernandez did the heavy lifting in the build-up, jinking his way to the byline before cutting back for the unmarked Alex Calatrava to sweep home.
The two sides traded blows in a bid to take a lead into half-time, and Kylian Mbappé saw an effort blocked by the legs of Marko Dmitrovic, before an unmarked Roberto Fernandez fluffed a header from just six yards out.
The second half began in much similar fashion to the first, with Real firmly on the front foot, and another Bellingham header almost nosed the visitors back in front, but this time the Englishman’s header crashed back off the crossbar.
Mourinho introduced new club-record signing Yan Diomande shortly after the hour mark to try and provide his side with some extra final-third impetus, and it almost proved to be a masterstroke when his deflected cross fell favourably for Federico Valverde on the edge of the area, but his shot bounced away to safety off the outside of the post.
Mbappe’s half-volley from the edge of the area 10 minutes from time – which went out closer to the corner flag than the target – was somewhat symptomatic of the struggles Real faced all evening.
But they found their key moment in the first minute of stoppage time when Espi was quickest to react to a loose ball inside the area, rounding Dmitrovic and hammering into an empty net to bring a halt to Espanyol’s four-match unbeaten LaLiga run and get Real off to a winning start.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Arda Guler (Real Madrid)
