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26 August 2026

José Mourinho’s first home match of his second spell as Real Madrid manager began on a strong note as his side beat Real Sociedad at the Santiago Bernabéu.

After edging Espanyol with a last-gasp win in matchweek one, Real Madrid began with intent but had to wait until the 40th minute to take the lead through Kylian Mbappé. Real Sociedad hit back swiftly and drew level before the interval, sending both teams into half-time all square.

Mbappé struck again on the hour mark before Vinícius Júnior finished from close range after impressive work by Jude Bellingham. The French forward then completed his hat-trick with ten minutes remaining as Real Madrid eased to an emphatic win to move to the top of La Liga.

Madrid made a bright start and created a couple of early openings, with the best of them coming when Vinícius Júnior slipped Kylian Mbappé through on goal. However, the forward was forced to shoot from a tight angle and Álex Remiro dealt with it comfortably.

The visitors had the best chance of the opening ten minutes, and it fell to Mikel Oyarzabal, who found space inside the box. His low strike, though, was too close to Thibaut Courtois, and the Belgian goalkeeper managed to keep it out.

The home side soon began to regain control of the game, applying sustained pressure on the Sociedad goal. They ought to have gone ahead when Federico Valverde won possession high up the pitch and the ball broke to Mbappé, who chose to square it for Vinícius, but Remiro produced an important save to deny the Brazilian.

Both teams continued to threaten, but Real Madrid finally found the breakthrough in the 39th minute, with Mbappé getting the goal. The move again stemmed from excellent work by Valverde, who drove forward with the ball and picked out the Frenchman. Mbappé then took a superb touch to create space from his marker before smashing a brilliant left-footed shot into the top corner.

However, the advantage lasted only a matter of minutes as Real Sociedad equalised before half-time. It followed a strange passage of play in which Job Ochieng chased a long ball over the top but hesitated over his finish, allowing Ibrahim Konaté to recover and block the attempt when the chance seemed to have gone. Fortunately for the visitors, Konaté’s block fell perfectly for Luka Sučić, who fired home the leveller.

A slick Madrid move early in the second half brought another major chance for Mbappé, but his effort was too close to Remiro, who kept it out with his feet.

In the 59th minute, the Bernabéu roared as Mbappé put the hosts back in front. The goal came after sharp combination play around the Sociedad penalty area, before Jude Bellingham laid the ball into the path of the French striker, who calmly slotted in his second goal of the evening.

Madrid soon had their third. Vinícius got on the scoresheet, but the goal owed everything to the quality and determination of Bellingham. The England international showed excellent close control in the box to create an opening, though his initial effort was blocked. He stayed with the move, won the ball back inside the area and then squared it to the Brazilian, who only had to tap into an empty net.

Mbappé completed his hat-trick with ten minutes left, and this time Vinícius turned provider. The winger did brilliantly to face up his defender, shape as if to cut inside and then pick out Mbappé’s run. The striker responded with a delicate chip over Remiro to score Madrid’s fourth and claim the match ball.

Brahim Díaz believed he had made it five for Real Madrid, but the goal was disallowed for offside. It made no difference in the end, as José Mourinho’s side cruised to a convincing victory and now sit top of La Liga after matchweek two.