Jose Mourinho is eight competitive matches into his second tenure as Real Madrid manager, with Los Blancos fourth in La Liga after defeats to Real Betis and Atletico Madrid.
After the international break, October's busy fixture list is capped off with El Clasico against Barcelona on the 25th of the month at Camp Nou and that stretch of matches could either put more, or take some pressure off of the 'Special One.'
Across their first eight competitive matches, Madrid have won six, lost two and drawn none, scoring 20 goals and conceding nine.
Meanwhile, Barcelona have maintained a perfect start to their season, as Hansi Flick's side have won all seven of their league matches and laid down a 5-1 thrashing of Feyenoord for their Champions League opener.
For Mourinho and Madrid, there is already ground to make up, with Barcelona six points clear at the top after seven league matches.
Mourinho's First Eight Real Madrid Games: 2010 vs 2026
Ironically enough, Mourinho's start to life as Madrid manager back in 2010 strikes a resemblance to the start he's now having for the 2026/27 campaign.
Back then, the club was also coming off of two straight trophyless seasons just as they are now and Mourinho's first eight matches resulted in six wins and two draws, having dropped points to Mallorca and Levante.
Of course, back then there weren't extended international breaks, so a lot of things could wind up looking different in a few weeks' time, but here's no changing the fact that Mourinho faces some of the same challenges he did back in 2010.
He's been brought in by Florentino Perez to bring silverware back to the club - exactly what the mission back then was after two seasons without a trophy.
Where he once had the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Ricardo Carvahlo, he now has Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Ibrahima Konate, Antonio Rudiger, Jude Bellingham, Federico Valverde, and Bernardo Silva.
Read More: Barcelona Extend All-Time La Liga Scoring Lead to 49 Goals Over Real Madrid
The Biggest Difference Between Mourinho's 2010 and 2026 Real Madrid
Unfortunately for Mourinho and Madrid, what they make up for now compared to the 2010/11 start of the season is scoring goals, but they're having far more difficulty keeping goals out of their own net.
So far this season, Los Blancos have scored 18 goals in the league, second only to Barcelona's 31.
However, they've already conceded eight, with six teams having conceded fewer goals. Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Real Betis, Alaves, Celta and Athletic Club have all conceded fewer than eight goals, but for Mourinho the concern is more so how it compares to his start back in 2010.
From the first six league matches of the 2010/11 season, Madrid had scored 12 goals and conceded only two. In their two opening matches of the Champions League that season, they scored four goals and conceded none.
They didn't concede a Champions League goal until the fourth match of that season, which was a 2-2 draw with AC Milan.
The goals conceded are not necessarily an indictment of Konate, Rudiger, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Marc Cucurella, Dean Huijsen or Denzel Dumfries, but Mourinho clearly has to find a way to improve Madrid's defence this season.
What Can Mourinho's 2026 Real Madrid Learn From 2010?
Strong attacking numbers cannot always compensate for defensive vulnerability, and that imbalance could cost them points. More defensive stability may be required after a summer in which Madrid spent around €225 million on new arrivals.
Even back in the 2010/11 season when Ronaldo bagged 40 goals for them and the club conceded 33 goals in the league, it still wasn't enough on 92 points to beat Barcelona, who won the league with 96 points and a goal difference of 74.
Barca's 31 goals from their opening seven league matches underline the attacking level Mourinho's Real Madrid will have to contend with this season.
