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Real Madrid are finishing their preparations before departing for Italy to face Roma on Wednesday in the Champions League, and the build-up carries a familiar signature from the club’s past.
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According to Marca, Real Madrid are approaching the Roma tie with a routine that bears the unmistakable stamp of Jose Mourinho. Visiting sides in the Champions League typically hold their pre-match session on the actual pitch they will play on. Not this time. Real Madrid will train at Valdebebas, board their flight at three in the afternoon, and land on Italian soil at a quarter past five in the evening. The Stadio Olimpico turf will remain untouched before kickoff.
Training at the match venue is standard practice across European football. Mourinho was the first manager to break that convention at Real Madrid.
During his first spell in charge between 2010 and 2013, Mourinho prepared for away fixtures at the club’s own training facility rather than the opponent’s stadium. Reports from that period attributed the decision to his desire to keep tactical plans under wraps and shield his match preparation from outside eyes.
He has not applied the method everywhere, though. Last season, while managing Benfica, Mourinho trained on the opposing pitch during visits to Real Madrid and Chelsea. That Bernabeu session marked his first time back on the refurbished turf in thirteen years, even though he arrived under suspension and could not take charge of the match itself.
Everywhere else in Europe that season, Benfica stuck to their usual approach, preparing at their own training base in Seixal. That pattern reflects the same philosophy Mourinho is now bringing back to Real Madrid.
The method disappeared once Mourinho left the club. Both Zinedine Zidane and Carlo Ancelotti chose to train on the opposing pitch the day before matches, following the conventional route most clubs take.
Xabi Alonso broke from that pattern last season, reviving Mourinho’s approach ahead of the trip to Anfield against Liverpool and sticking with it for every subsequent away fixture in Europe. His setup was precise: train at Valdebebas at eleven in the morning, fly to Liverpool that afternoon, and head directly to the hotel without stopping at the stadium. Only the coach and a single player appeared at Anfield for the pre-match press conference.
The experiment did not last. Alvaro Arbeloa, who succeeded Alonso, abandoned the approach and returned Real Madrid to training on the opponent’s pitch, a shift he confirmed on his first European away trip when the squad worked out at the Estadio da Luz.
With Mourinho back at the helm, the club’s old habit of guarding its preparation behind closed doors is returning as well. This is unlikely to be a one-off adjustment for a single fixture. Expectations point toward this routine becoming the standard for every European away trip Real Madrid make for the remainder of the season.
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