Spain Coach Jose Mourinho believes that Real Madrid will one day score 7 goals, after the team squandered many opportunities in the 4-1 win over Rayo Vallecano in round 5 of La Liga.
Real got off to a dream start at the Bernabeu, leading Rayo 3-0 after the first half and ending the match with a 4-1 victory. Kylian Mbappe scored twice, while Jude Bellingham and Alvaro Carreras each scored one goal. But with Mourinho, the score may be far from the team's actual attacking ability.
"We created a lot of opportunities, but also missed a lot," the Portuguese coach said in the post-match press conference. "I told the players that one day, a weak team will pay the price for all these missed opportunities. We will score 7 goals against a team."
Real finished 23 times and scored 4 goals. This performance partly shows the gap between the number of opportunities created and the number of goals. According to Mourinho, the direct, high-speed style of play makes Real often bring the ball close to the opponent's goal, but also makes it difficult for the players to maintain accuracy for a long time.
That's also the reason Mourinho wasn't too disappointed with Real's sluggish performance in the second half. The home team at the Bernabeu had a big advantage after 45 minutes and could no longer maintain the same intensity as at the beginning of the match. Rayo had more shots, while Real made some mistakes in deploying the ball from home.
Mourinho admitted he had guessed this. "I would describe this as a 45-minute match. After 45 minutes, the match is considered over," the Portuguese coach said. "In the second half, the players no longer had enough physical and mental energy to continue playing with high intensity."
Real entered the match against Rayo after a 2-1 win over Inter in the Champions League. Therefore, Mourinho believes that the players need to be recognized for still winning all three points, even though they could not maintain their performance in the second half.
"This is a match we have to win after losing to Betis," he continued. "The first half was great, but the second half was not as good. I saw the fatigue and tried to create stability with changes. I forgive the players, that's normal. We just had a very difficult match and some players finished the match very tired."
Mourinho also praised Vinicius Junior. The Brazilian player continues to create and is considered by the coach to be close to his best physical condition. Mourinho believes that Vinicius has improved his ability to repeat acceleration phases and is adapting to higher defensive requirements.
The 63-year-old coach said Vinicius is also in a good mental state and understands his responsibilities when playing for Real. According to him, the Brazilian star needs to continue to contribute with assists and defensive support and goals will come.
After this match, Real will be a guest of Elche on Tuesday, September 15, before entering the Madrid derby with Atletico on September 20. Those will be the next tests for a team that is scoring a lot of goals, but according to Mourinho, there is still great room to improve the ability to take advantage of opportunities.
