Mourinho’s Real Madrid hits its first wall: What went wrong in Seville?

Real Madrid’s first defeat under José Mourinho came despite a performance that could easily have produced a comfortable win. Betis won 1-0 in Seville, but the scoreline concealed a night of striking wastefulness from Madrid.

The defeat ended a perfect start of three victories and 10 goals in Mourinho’s second spell at the club. Real finished with 20 shots and 3.16 expected goals, its highest total without scoring since 2020. “I don’t know how we lost, because collectively we played very well,” Mourinho said after the match. On the balance of play, even a draw seemed harsh on Madrid.

Kylian Mbappé led the missed opportunities. He took seven shots, wasted two major chances and then missed a penalty in stoppage time. His individual expected-goals figure reached 1.78, but he never found the net.

Vinícius Júnior also struggled. He hit the frame in the first half but spent much of the match battling Héctor Bellerín and rarely reached the positions where he is most dangerous. Late on, he supplied a spectacular outside-of-the-foot pass for Carlos Espi, but VAR ruled out the youngster’s goal for offside. Spanish media and analysts on El Larguero focused heavily on the wastefulness of both stars.

Arda Güler had been Real’s main creative force in the first half, creating seven chances for teammates. Mourinho withdrew him in the 64th minute after he received a yellow card, saying he did not want to risk losing him to a sending-off. The decision made sense, but Real then lost its most dangerous creator as the match became more closed. Bernardo Silva, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Yan Diomande added fresh legs, not the same creativity. Betis got the match into the shape it wanted, while Real paid for failing to convert its chances.

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I don’t know how we lost, because collectively we played very well.