Espanyol vs Real Madrid La Liga preview, team news, prediction and betting tips: Mourinho begins second Bernabéu reign in Catalonia

Espanyol thumped Levante 3-0 in their season opener, while Real Madrid arrive undefeated through pre-season.

However, they have almost no competitive minutes in the bank after their actual matchday-one fixture was pushed back to accommodate returning World Cup players.

That mismatch in sharpness, against a backdrop of an enormous financial and squad-quality gap, makes this an intriguing litmus test for Mourinho's rebuild.

Espanyol have quietly become one of the more stable stories in Spanish football since returning to the top flight in 2024.

They finished 14th and then 11th in their first two seasons back, with Manolo Gonzalez earning real credit for a squad that spent much of last season flirting with a European place before fading in the second half.

Their opening-day statement — a 3-0 dismantling of Levante in which Roberto Fernandez scored twice, and Tyrhys Dolan added a third — suggests the Catalan side have picked up where they left off.

Gonzalez has reshaped the squad modestly over the summer (five in, ten out), but has largely kept faith with the core that got Espanyol out of trouble last term.

Pre-season form was mixed rather than spectacular: a 3-1 loss to newly promoted Coventry City sits alongside draws with Middlesbrough (3-3) and Burnley (2-2), suggesting this is a team that competes without necessarily overpowering anyone.

Real Madrid's summer, meanwhile, has been about wholesale reconstruction.

After finishing second to a rampant Barcelona — who retained the title with three games to spare — and ending the campaign without a single trophy, president Florentino Perez backed Mourinho with a squad overhaul built around six major arrivals.

These include club-record signing Yan Diomande, Marc Cucurella, Ibrahima Konate, Denzel Dumfries, Bernardo Silva and Carlos Espi.

Restoring harmony in a dressing room that reportedly fractured last season — most notably an ugly incident between Fede Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni — is as much a part of Mourinho's brief as results.

On the pitch, the pre-season signs are encouraging: four wins and a draw from five friendlies, including routine victories over Ferencvaros, Deportivo La Coruna and a 3-0 statement win over Schalke in the final warm-up.

The catch is fitness — several of Madrid's biggest names spent the summer at the World Cup rather than on the training pitch, and this game arrives without the usual competitive rhythm a matchday-one fixture provides.

The scale of the gap between these clubs is stark even by Real Madrid's usual standards: Espanyol's entire squad is valued at around €120m, against Real Madrid's approximately €1.45bn.

This fixture has been overwhelmingly one-sided historically — Real Madrid have won 119 and lost just 46 of their 201 all-time meetings with Espanyol.

The recent record tells a similar story, with Real Madrid winning eight of the last ten head-to-head meetings.

Espanyol's rare victory in that run came at home in February 2025, a 1-0 win at the RCDE Stadium, but Madrid have won the two subsequent meetings since, both by a 2-0 scoreline.

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Real Madrid's quality advantage here is significant, even accounting for their lack of match sharpness.

They've won each of their last two meetings with Espanyol 2-0, and eight of the last ten head-to-head encounters overall, while arriving off an unbeaten pre-season capped by a comfortable win over Schalke.

Espanyol will make this uncomfortable for spells — their opening-day form and home support ensure that.

However, with Cucurella, Konate and Dumfries all in line to add fresh legs to a Madrid side already stacked with attacking talent, backing the visitors to win by two or more goals captures the gap in overall squad strength.

Both sides have shown attacking intent in their most recent outings.

Espanyol put three past Levante without reply, while Real Madrid's pre-season have produced goals freely, including a 4-1 win over Leganes and a 2-2 draw with Fiorentina.

Espanyol's defence, missing Javi Puado, Kike Garcia through injury and Leandro Cabrera through suspension, will be tested by a Madrid front line featuring Kylian Mbappe — fresh off a ten-goal World Cup — and Vinicius Junior.

Five of the last ten meetings between these sides have produced three or more goals, a trend that lines up well with the quality on show here.

Tyrhys Dolan was directly involved in Espanyol's opening-day win over Levante, getting on the scoresheet himself, and has registered a shot on target in each of his last two La Liga appearances.

Playing on the flank against a Real Madrid back line featuring several new faces still finding their understanding — Cucurella, Konate and Dumfries have barely played minutes together — Dolan should get opportunities in behind, particularly on the counter given how much of the ball Madrid are likely to dominate.

Espanyol will be without three key figures for this one.

Javi Puado is sidelined with a knee/ligament issue, Kike Garcia is out with a hamstring problem, and captain Leandro Cabrera misses out through suspension, leaving a gap at the heart of defence.

Edu Exposito is a doubt with a muscle problem and will be assessed closer to kick-off; if he isn't fit, Urko Gonzalez de Zarate is expected to anchor midfield alongside Javi Hernandez.

Gonzalez is expected to make minimal changes to the side that beat Levante given the result, with Roberto Fernandez and Dolan retaining their spots in the front line.

Real Madrid's injury list is longer and more significant.

Rodrygo is the standout absentee — he is expected to be sidelined for the remainder of the 2026 calendar year.

Raul Asencio, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy, Thiago Pitarch and Aurelien Tchouameni are all also ruled out through injury.

On the positive side, Mourinho has a fully fit core to build around, with new signings Cucurella, Konate, Dumfries and Bernardo Silva all in contention to make their competitive debuts.

Diomande is also pushing for a start in attack alongside Mbappé and Vinicius. Thibaut Courtois is expected to continue in goal.

Dmitrovic; El Hilali, Riedel, Nunez, Hinojo; Urko Gonzalez, Hernandez; Calatrava, Fernandez, Dolan; Fernandez

Courtois; Dumfries, Konate, Huijsen, Cucurella; Valverde, Bellingham, Camavinga; Diomande, Mbappe, Vinicius

Espanyol's opening-day performance and home advantage mean they won't be brushed aside easily.

Also, their recent record of making life difficult for Real Madrid — including that win in February 2025 — shows they're capable of springing a surprise on their day.

However, the gulf in squad depth and individual quality is simply too wide to ignore, particularly with Mourinho able to call on several fresh, high-calibre additions even with a lengthy injury list.

Expect Real Madrid's class to tell in the second half as quality becomes a factor.

Correct score prediction: Espanyol 1-3 Real Madrid