Real Madrid will be looking to get back to winning ways in LaLiga as they take on Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.
The club are coming on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Real Betis last weekend but did secure a narrow win over Inter Milan in the midweek Champions League fixture.
Heading into this game, Dean Huijsen, who has been showing a lot of promise in these early parts of the season, spoke to the club's official media about the match ahead and how Real Madrid have been coping with the pressure early on, among other things.
The young centre-back was fully aware of the threat posed by Rayo and praised the opposition.
Huijsen must emerge as a leader this season. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

#madrid #season

Real Madrid have published their squad list for Saturday's match against Rayo Vallecano in La Liga.
REAL MADRID SQUAD LIST:
Goalkeepers: Courtois, Lunin, and Sergio Mestre.
Defenders: Asencio, Huijsen, Trent, Konaté, Cucurella, Á. Carreras, Rüdiger, and Dumfries.
Midfielders: Bellingham, Camavinga, Valverde, Tchouameni, Arda Güler, Bernardo, and Thiago.
Forwards: Vini Jr., Endrick, Mbappé, C. Espí, Brahim, and Yan Diomande.
Asencio makes the list and will be available, with Bernardo Silva, Eduardo Camavinga and Arda Güler also back and expected to play. Mourinho could use this game to make some rotations and it could very well be Diomande's first start for Real Madrid.
HOW TO WATCH, STREAM LA LIGA
Date: 09/12/2026

#liga #arda #bernardo

OFFICIAL LINE-UPS
REAL MADRID (4-3-3): 1 Courtois; 24 Dumfries, 16 Konaté, 4 Huijsen, 17 Cucurella; 12 Alexander-Arnold, 8 Valverde, 5 Bellingham; 21 Diaz, 10 Mbappé, 7 Vinicius.
Substitutes: 13 Lunin, 26 Sergio Mestre, 9 Endrick, 14 Tchouameni, 18 Carreras, 19 Carlos Espi, 22 Rudiger, 25 Diomandé, 27 Thiago Pitarch, 29 Jorge Cestero, 33 Mario Rivas.
Coach: José Mourinho.
INTER (3-5-2): 1 J. Martinez; 28 Pavard, 31 Bisseck, 95 Bastoni; 17 Diouf, 23 Barella, 20 Calhanoglu, 21 Jones, 30 Carlos Augusto; 9 Thuram, 10 Lautaro.

#konat #huijsen

Real Madrid host Inter Milan in the opening game of the Champions League's Group Stage. Los Blancos are coming off a disappointing loss against Betis, so bouncing back tonight would improve the team's confidence and momentum.
Real Madrid predicted XI: Courtois; Dumfries, Konaté, Huijsen, Cucurella; Valverde, Bellingham; Brahim, Diomande, Vinicius; Mbappé.
Inter Milan predicted XI: Martínez; Bisseck, Stones, Bastoni; Luis Henrique, Barella, Calhanoglu, Jones, Carlos Ausgusto; Lautaro, Thuram.
Mourinho will have to rebuild his midfield line given that Güler, Camavinga and Bernardo Silva are all out. Bellingham will likely be deployed alongside Valverde in the double pivot, with Brahim and Diomande playing in the attacking line.
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#madrid #brahim #diomande

Real Madrid's visit to Sevilla to face Betis is not expected to be an easy one even if Manuel Pellegrini's side just lost to Levante 5-2 a handful of days ago. They're always a strong home team, so this could be the first time this season that Madrid truly need to defend at a high level if they want the three points.
PREDICTED LINEUPS
Real Madrid predicted XI: Courtois, Dumfries, Konaté, Huijsen, Cucurella, Bernardo, Valverde, Güler, Bellingham, Vinicius; Mbappé.
Betis predicted XI: Valles, Bellerín, Diego Llorente, Natan, Fran García, Facundo, Fornals, Antony, Isco, Riquelme, Cucho.
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#manuel #they 're

According to MARCA, Real Madrid veteran defender Antonio Rudiger has a strong chance of starting later today when the team take on Malaga at the Santiago Bernabeu.
After Germany were eliminated in the first knockout round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on penalties against Paraguay, the senior centre-back went on holiday early. That allowed him to be involved in Mourinho's plans from the very beginning.
Yet, with the third league matchday approaching, he remains the only fit first-team outfield player, aside from the seven injured players, who has yet to feature.
Aware of the importance of making a strong start, the Portuguese tactician has wanted the centre of his defence to be a position of strength.
As a result, Ibrahima Konate and Dean Huijsen started both the matches against RCD Espanyol and Real Sociedad.

#real #team

Real Madrid have published their squad list for Sunday's home match against Málaga.
REAL MADRID SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Courtois, Lunin, and Javi Navarro.
Defenders: Huijsen, Trent, Konaté, Cucurella, Á. Carreras, Rüdiger, Dumfries, and Mario Rivas.
Midfielders: Bellingham, Camavinga, Valverde, Arda Güler, Bernardo, Cestero, and Alexis Ciria.
Forwards: Vini Jr., Mbappé, C. Espí, Brahim, and Yan Diomande.
No significant news on this list even though Mourinho will be expected to make some changes after the team's first two games. Málaga should be manageable opposition at home and that's why rotations could be on the way.
HOW TO WATCH, STREAM LA LIGA
Date: 08/30/2026

#goalkeepers

Jose Mourinho is beginning to form a clearer picture of his preferred Real Madrid defence, with the Portuguese coach reportedly identifying the back four that currently gives him the greatest sense of security.
According to Defensa Central, Mourinho's conclusions have evolved as the weeks and early matches of the season have progressed.
While the Real Madrid manager remains aware that his team has defensive issues to address, he is already looking towards the combination he could trust for the biggest matches ahead.
As things stand, Denzel Dumfries, Ibrahima Konate, Dean Huijsen and Marc Cucurella are believed to be the four defenders leading the race for those positions.
Dumfries has made the strongest case at right-back, with the Dutchman beginning to pull ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold in the battle for a starting role.

#real #beginning #jose

Real Madrid put Real Sociedad away 4-1 in their first match at the Bernabeu this season. A hat-trick from Kylian Mbappe, along with a goal from Vinicius Junior, made sure that Jose Mourinho's return to the stadium was not spoiled.
This is not meant to be a diss.
One of Dean Huijsen's biggest criticisms from last season was his tendency to always find a spectacular pass. He was always diabolically vertical with his passes, regardless of whether they made any sense. He looked to always be positive with his actions — sometimes too positive, and that hurt Real Madrid on many occasions.
Things would be going well, and the team would be in a position where they needed to keep the ball. Instead of playing the easy pass, Huijsen would always try to find an attacker who was never expecting a pass in the first place.
Against Real Sociedad, and also against Espanyol, things looked more 'boring' and standard and less chaotic with Huijsen. The Spanish International had a 96% pass completion rate on 72 attempts, as he played a lot of sideways passes to Bernardo Silva, Marc Cucurella and Ibrahima Konate.

#always #pass #first #made

Since Toni Kroos's retirement, Real Madrid's attack seems largely like an orchestra without a conductor, unable to find someone to cohesively pull the strings on a pitch filled with talented footballers with distinct skillsets. The de facto leader of Madrid on the pitch in the later years of his career, Kroos attempted over 100 passes per 90 minutes in La Liga in his final season at Madrid, completing nearly 95% of his passes, and 82 pass attempts per 90 in the Champions League. By comparison, Madrid's leading passer from midfield last season was Aurélien Tchouaméni with only 65.5 pass attempts per 90 in La Liga and 55.7 per 90 in Champions. In fact, with Luka Modric's subsequent departure, it was two centre-backs (Antonio Rüdiger in La Liga and Dean Huijsen in the Champions League) that led Madrid in pass attempts per 90 for the first time in nearly a decade.
Two of the criticisms of Madrid post-Kroos/Modric is that the deeper players like Rüdiger and Fede Valverde don't: i) circulate the ball quickly enough or ii) provide sufficient incisive passes to the forward line. We ****** yzed both points to see the validity of these concerns as it relates to Madrid's midfield.
Let's first tackle quick ball circulation. Kroos's final season at Madrid saw him attempt 22.2% of his passes one-touch (fourth percentile amongst midfielders in the top five leagues) and 53.7% within two seconds of receiving the ball (eighth percentile amongst midfielders in the top five leagues) in league play while Modric that same season saw 23.5% of his passes come via first touch (10th percentile) and 52.6% under two seconds (seventh percentile). By comparison, Aurelien Tchouaméni and Valverde last season distributed 26.4% and 26.3% of their passes, respectively in La Liga one-time (higher percentages than Kroos and Modric in 2023/2024) with nearly the identical percentage of quick passes (passes within two seconds of receiving the ball) as the German legend and Croatian maestro had in 2023/2024 (Tchouaméni: 53.8%; Kroos: 53.7%; Valverde: 53.3%; Modric: 52.6%).
It is a popular misconception that being a tempo controller often requires playing the ball quickly and having a significant percentage of one-two touch passes. Kroos was not a great tempo controller because he often passed the ball first touch. As the chart above demonstrates, Kroos actually circulated the ball slower his final season than many of Madrid's midfielders last season. The best tempo controllers know when to play first-time, when to hold on to the ball for several seconds, when to progress the ball and when to value retaining possession, understanding that the scoreline, moment in the match, and positioning of players on the pitch dictate when to move the ball quickly and when to slow the play down. Vitinha, considered by many to be the best deep-lying playmaker in the game today, distributed less than our out of every five attempted passes (18.3%) during live play last season in Ligue 1 from a first

Pre-season provided a real opportunity for some Real Madrid players to impress Jose Mourinho, and it looks like some stars have caught the manager's eye.
The appointment of a new manager always brings with it a clean slate, especially for players like Dean Huijsen.
The 21-year-old Spanish ace started last season well under Xabi Alonso, but the managerial changes saw his form drop.
By the end of the campaign, he had been dropped from the starting XI, looked a shadow of his former self and was left out of Spain's World Cup tournament.
Huijsen, to his credit, appears to have played his way into Mourinho's starting plans after an impressive pre-season showing.

#players #mourinho #dean

Real Madrid ended their pre-season schedule in fine style on Sunday with a resounding 3-0 victory over Schalke at the VELTINS-Arena. Kylian Mbappe, Dean Huijsen and summer signing Carlos Espi all scored for Los Blancos, who won four of their five fixtures in the lead-up to the 2026-27 campaign starting next weekend.
As per MD, head coach Jose Mourinho spoke to Real Madrid TV to discuss where he sees his side ahead of the season opener against Espanyol next week. He admitted that he is pleased with everyone's condition, including those who only just returned following an extended break after the 2026 World Cup.
"At the moment, it's difficult to speak individually, because we're growing as a team. Here we only have good, very good and very, very good players. From the combination of the work of these players we have to make a very good team. I think we are taking the right steps to do it.
"I'm very happy with the last ones who arrived, it's not easy to get into a high intensity, have a double session morning and afternoon, an incredible heat, and they arrived with a top mentality. The question of 45 minutes for Kylian, for Konate, 30 for Jude, Cucurella, Diomande, are things that we **** yse scientifically with data we have and with the player's own experience, the knowledge of his body. We arrive in a very acceptable condition for this moment of the season."
Mourinho is also pleased with how his players are becoming a cohesive unit, and he expects things to get better and better as they all get up to match speed.

#mourinho

The transfer market is shaking with the imminent agreement between Barça and Manchester City for Rodri Hernández, on a day when the Community Shield and the French Super Cup delivered major surprises in European football.
FC Barcelona and Manchester City have finalized the transfer of Rodrigo Hernández, pending only the official announcement from both clubs. The Madrid-born midfielder will strengthen the Blaugrana engine room in what is shaping up to be one of the summer's biggest moves.
Real Madrid wrapped up their preseason on a positive note after beating Schalke 04 0-3. Kylian Mbappé led Los Blancos' attack in a strong collective display, with goals also coming from defender Dean Huijsen and young striker Carlos Espí.
Mikel Arteta got the better of Enzo Maresca in the first official ****** le match of the season in England. The Gunners swept aside Manchester City with an emphatic 3-0 win to lift the Community Shield and send a warning ahead of the Premier League campaign.
Paris Saint-Germain suffered a monumental upset in the French Super Cup. Luis Enrique's side were beaten by a Lens team that played with ten men from the opening thirty minutes, meaning it was the second domestic ****** le to slip from the Asturian coach's grasp.

#hern #shield #madrid

Dean Huijsen enjoyed a special moment in Real Madrid's 3-0 victory over Schalke 04 on Sunday, scoring a goal and speaking about what it means to wear the club's famous number 4 shirt.
The young centre-back, who grew up admiring Real Madrid legend Sergio Ramos, admitted that taking on the number previously ***** ociated with his idol is something he had always hoped for.
Huijsen also found the net in the friendly, while goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made his return after overcoming the issue that forced him to miss Belgium's final World Cup match.
Huijsen scored Real Madrid's second goal after meeting an Arda Guler corner with a header, but afterwards, his attention turned to the significance of the shirt number he now wears.
Speaking to Real Madrid TV, Huijsen explained why the number 4 holds such importance for him, saying,

#speaking

The full agreement between Barcelona and Manchester City for Rodri Hernández is shaking up the summer transfer market, while Real Madrid wrap up their preseason with a big win and LaLiga gets its first season underway.
The Madrid-based press is focusing on the positive feelings around Real Madrid in the final stretch of their preparations. Marca leads its front page with the headline "A top-level Madrid" after their emphatic 0-3 win over Schalke 04, highlighting that Kylian Mbappé needed only six minutes to find the net.
For its part, AS leads with "Mbappé shines with Mourinho", underlining the French star's leadership and the strong defensive and goalscoring displays from players such as Huijsen and Espí. At the top, both papers agree in highlighting the imminent agreement between Barça and Manchester City for Rodri.
In the Catalan press, the real bombshell of the summer is stealing all the attention. Sport declares on its front page with a resounding "Signed!" to announce the full agreement for Rodri for a fee close to 60 million fixed plus add-ons.
Along very similar lines, Mundo Deportivo headlines "Rodri YES" and adds that João Cancelo will also arrive on a free transfer after ending his ties with Al Hilal. Both outlets round out their front pages with Barça's 2-5 win in Basel, featuring a brace from Bisiwu and major contributions from the youngsters.

#madrid #real #summer

Schalke played host to European giants Real Madrid on the occasion of Veltins-Arena's 25th anniversary. Despite the 3-0 defeat to Jose Mourinho's star-studded side, the hosts performed admirably with no summer signing in their starting lineup.
On his first game back from finishing top-scorer at the World Cup, Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring in the sixth minute after he intercepted Ron Schallenberg's poor backpass for Loris Karius. Dean Huijsen doubled Real Madrid's advantage with a powerful header from Arda Güler's corner-kick.
Former RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande made his debut for his new club minutes after fellow new signing Carlos Espi netted the third for Los Blancos. Edin Džeko, who was looking forward to playing against his former coach, entered as a substitute ten minutes from time as he played his first game since re-joining Schalke.
Huub Stevens, Clemens Toennies and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar were among several former Schalke figures present for the special day at Veltins-Arena.

#minutes #european

Ibrahima Konate has barely arrived at Real Madrid, but circumstances could already hand him one of the biggest opportunities available to a new signing: a place in the starting XI for the opening La Liga match against Espanyol.
According to AS, injuries to Eder Militao and Raul Asencio have left Jose Mourinho with limited options at the heart of the defence.
Konate's arrival, therefore, comes at a particularly useful moment for the club.
The Frenchman completed his first training session with his new teammates on Monday and arrived in excellent physical condition.
That immediately puts him in contention for the trip to Espanyol, especially with further uncertainty surrounding Dean Huijsen.

#espanyol #arrived #konate #according

Real Madrid have announced their squad list for Sunday's preseason friendly against Schalke 04, the last friendly of this year's preseason stage.
REAL MADRID SQUAD LIST:
Goalkeepers: Courtois, Lunin, and Illia.
Defenders: Huijsen, Trent, Konaté, Cucurella, Á. Carreras, Rüdiger, Dumfries, and Mario Rivas.
Midfielders: Bellingham, Camavinga, Valverde, Arda Güler, Bernardo, Cestero, and Alexis Ciria.
Forwards: Vini Jr., Mbappé, C. Espí, Brahim, and Diomande.
This time, Mourinho will have his stars at his disposal. Still, most of those players have only trained with the group for a couple of sessions, so they should not be expected to play heavy minutes.
HOW TO WATCH, STREAM REAL MADRID'S PRESEASON
Date: 08/16/2026

#madrid #squad #list #lunin

Ex-Real Madrid star David Alaba has taken to social media this week, to send a message of encouragement the way of Blancos starlet Dean Huijsen. This comes after the latter made the call to take over ownership of Alaba's squad number for the seasons ahead.
Huijsen is fresh off seeing his prominence in Spain's capital reiterated on Monday. After a somewhat hit-and-miss debut campaign in the colours of Real Madrid, the 21-year-old was nevertheless handed an iconic jersey number.
As confirmed by the player himself, Huijsen is Los Merengues' new no.4.
Drawn on his selection by the media on Monday evening, the former Juventus talent admitted that his inspiration was none other than Sergio Ramos.
As alluded to above, though, a day on, Huijsen has received a personal message from the player to have donned the no.4 even more recently than Ramos.

#real #david

We have just reached half-time in Real Madrid's second pre-season match against Leganés. Real Madrid took to the field with the following line-up: Lunin, Alexander-Arnold, Huijsen, Asencio, Carreras, Camavinga, Valverde, Güler, Mastantuono, Ciria (Castilla), García. Attendance at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano was restricted to journalists and staff, with new signing Denzel Dumfries amongst the few spectators.
After a slow start to proceedings, with Madrid maintaining possession at almost walking-speed – we ended up seeing a good amount of action. Arda Güler linked up with Fede Valverde for the first chance of the game, but the Uruguayan could not get his toe to the delicate pass. The same combination would later open the scoring, this time with a combination along the floor allowing Fede to poke the ball home. Madrid would make it two straight after a drinks break, when a trademark Trent Alexander-Arnold pass found Gonzalo García who **** ed the ball over the keeper to score. Trent was deployed very high up the pitch, and was a standout alongside Arda.
Leganés did pull a goal back with an unstoppable effort that left Andriy Lunin and his defence mesmerised. A great first-half test against a strong second division side – with the score currently reading 2-1 to the hosts ahead of the second period. Changes are expected at the break. Check out our socials for coverage for the remainder of the game.

#second #alexander #arda

Madridistas got their first look at Jose Mourinho 2.0's Real Madrid as the side took on Primera RFEF opponents AD Alcorcón at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano on Friday evening, with Dani Yáñez scoring the only goal of the game from the penalty spot.
The first 20 minutes of action were open for journalists and viewers on Real Madrid TV, with a series of substitutions meaning that this game was entirely focused on building fitness for those who weren't involved in this summer's World Cup.
Here, we run through some of the takeaways from the short sighting of action.
The line-up which started this game featured Andriy Lunin in goal, a strong defensive unit of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dean Huijsen, Raúl Asencio and Álvaro Carreras, but much weaker midfield and attacking depth where the trios were formed by Thiago Cestero, Eduardo Camavinga and Arda Güler and in attack by Franco Mastantuono, Gonzalo García and Gabri Valero. The club reported that the XI on the field at the time of the final whistle were all players from Castilla and the club's youth teams.
While the available first team players were always likely to have a strong influence on how Jose Mourinho set his team up here, it was intriguing to see that Real Madrid began pre-season with a 4-3-3 shape. The system was what worked so well in Mourinho's previous stint at the club, although he operated more regularly with a 4-2-3-1 with Benfica last season. At times, this shape did shift to look like a 4-2-3-1, with Güler stepping forward ahead of Cestero and Camavinga, and showing some of the tactical versatility that could be a point to watch in pre-season.

#season

There was plenty of curiosity surrounding Jose Mourinho’s first day back at Real Madrid, but for Dean Huijsen, the occasion felt a little different.
While many members of the squad were working under the Portuguese coach for the first time, the young centre-back was reunited with a manager he already knows well from their time together at Roma.
That previous connection meant Huijsen walked into pre-season with a clearer understanding of what Mourinho expects, and, perhaps more importantly, the person behind the demanding public image.
As Real Madrid officially kicked off preparations for the 2026/27 campaign at Valdebebas, Huijsen took time to greet supporters before briefly speaking to the media.
Mourinho’s training sessions have carried a reputation for intensity, discipline and attention to detail.

An up-and-coming member of the midfield ranks at La Liga giants Real Madrid was a surprise inclusion in first-team training on Monday.
Los Blancos, for those not aware, got their preparations for the new campaign up and running earlier today.
With the José Mourinho era now in full effect in Spain's capital, the club's senior players not called upon for international duty at the World Cup were summoned to Valdebebas for pre-season training.
Alongside the likes of Dean Huijsen, Eduardo Camavinga and Trent Alexander-Arnold, though, were a host of academy talents, too.
Short on numbers for the session, Mourinho and his staff drafted in some of the most highly-regarded youngsters currently making their way through La Fábrica.

Real Madrid officially opened preparations for the 2026-27 season on Monday, with José Mourinho leading his first preseason training session since returning to the club.
The day began with the usual medical and fitness examinations at the club's medical facilities before the available members of the squad reported to Real Madrid City for their first workout of the summer.
With many first-team players either still involved in the 2026 FIFA World Cup or only recently returning from international duty, Mourinho worked with a limited group consisting of Andriy Lunin, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dean Huijsen, Raúl Asencio, Álvaro Carreras, Eduardo Camavinga, Franco Mastantuono, and Gonzalo García. A number of academy players were also called up to supplement the session.
After an introductory team talk from Mourinho, the squad began with gym work before moving onto the training pitch for activation exercises that combined physical conditioning with ball work.
The session then progressed into high-intensity possession drills under pressure, followed by finishing exercises on small goals. Training concluded with several small-sided matches on reduced-size pitches as Mourinho looked to reintroduce players to competitive game situations after the summer break.

June 18 (UPI) -- Real Madrid signed former Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate to a four-year contract, the Spanish La Liga soccer franchise announced Thursday.
Konate, 27, spent the last five seasons with the Reds. He totaled seven goals and four ****** ists over 183 appearances for the English Premier League franchise. Konate won the Premier League, FA Cup, two Carabao Cups and an FA Community Shield while with the Reds.
He is among a series of big signings for Madrid, who previously reached agreements with Manchester City's Bernardo Silva and Chelsea's Marc Cucurella.
Konate arrival follows the departure of veteran defenders David Alaba and Dani Carvajal, who left Madrid this off-season. Antonio Rudiger, Raul Asencio, Dean Huijsen and Eder Militao are among Madrid's other defenders.
Konate, who also spent time at RB Leipzig and Sochaux, is currently part of France's World Cup squad. He did not play in their 3-1 group stage win over Senegal on Tuesday in East Rutherford, N.J.