Real Madrid News
Real Madrid new youth signing makes first-team training debut
Real Madrid continued their preparations ahead of Friday’s La Liga clash with Real Betis at Estadio La Cartuja.
After three wins in three games, Los Blancos have made a solid start to Jose Mourinho’s second spell at the Santiago Bernabeu and will be eager to build on it.
Sergio Martinez trains with first team
And, the main highlight from today’s training session was the presence of youngster Sergio Martinez.
The 19-year-old midfielder joined Real Madrid from Racing Santander on 31 August. And today, he trained with the first team for the first time under Mourinho.
Real Madrid paid around €3 million to sign Martinez, who will initially become a part of the club’s reserve team, Castilla.
Even though he has already made his La Liga debut with Racing Santander this season, the young midfield starlet will have to settle for a spot in the reserve team competing in the RFEF Primera Federacion.
The Merengues’ plan, however, is for him to regularly train with the first team, allowing Mourinho to monitor his development and assess his progress at close quarters.
After all, the Portuguese tactician is understood to have played a role in convincing the teenager to make the switch to Madrid from Racing Santander.
His involvement with the senior squad so soon after completing his move provides an early indication of the importance Real Madrid place on his development.
Seven players remain sidelined
While Sergio Martinez’s training debut came as a debut, Real Madrid still continue to be without several first-team stars.
🇧🇷 @EderMilitao
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) September 2, 2026
🇧🇷 @Endrick pic.twitter.com/VeEmHzo3ES
Indeed, Aurelien Tchouameni, Raul Asencio, Ferland Mendy, Eder Militao, Rodrygo Goes, Endrick and Thiago Pitarch continued to work through their respective recovery programmes.
A number of the aforementioned players have started doing work with the ball on the field, taking a step forward in their recovery.
However, as things stand, there are not expected to be any changes to the squad for Friday’s match against Real Betis, meaning none of the players currently working away from the main group are expected to return in time for the trip.
Real Madrid News
Rayo Vallecano manager names the one Real Madrid figure he would remove from the team
Rayo Vallecano face a daunting trip to the Santiago Bernabeu to take on a wounded Real Madrid this weekend.
Life after Inigo Perez has not been kind to the Vallecas-based club, who have already had to travel to Camp Nou and now face a trip to the home of their city giants.
Speaking ahead of the game (h/t Madrid Xtra), Rayo Vallecano manager Benat San Jose was asked which Real Madrid player he would like to remove from the team before this weekend’s game.
Surprisingly, his choice was not Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior or Thibaut Courtois.
“Mourinho”
Asked which Madrid player he would take out of the upcoming contest, Benat jokingly chose the man sitting on the opposition bench.
“Which Real Madrid player I’d remove from the match against them? Mourinho,” Benat said with a laugh.
The answer might have been delivered jokingly, but the Rayo coach immediately made clear just how highly he rates the Portuguese manager.
“He’s one of the best managers in history,” he added.
It is significant praise ahead of Saturday’s meeting at the Bernabeu.
Madrid’s squad contains enough individual quality to give any opposition coach several obvious answers, but Benat instead highlighted the influence Mourinho can have over the entire team.
That has become particularly relevant since the Portuguese coach returned to Madrid. His early work has focused on making a talented group function with greater collective discipline.
Courtois and Madrid’s attack also praised
Benat did not stop with the manager.
“They also have one of the best GKs in history and one of the best attackers in history,” he said.
Benat will definitely have seen how Thibaut Courtois played against Inter Milan in midweek and will hope that version does not turn up again this weekend.
Even when teams manage to create opportunities against Madrid, they still have to beat one of the defining goalkeepers of his generation.
At the opposite end, Madrid possess attacking quality capable of turning a match on its head.
The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham can all decide matches single-handedly.
Madrid have a point to prove
Madrid are coming off a disappointing loss to Real Betis in La Liga last weekend and will come into this game with a point to prove.
They will want to ensure that the loss to the Andalusian club was a one-off and that they return to winning ways against Rayo.
Their title rivals, Barça, have been flying high in the league, scoring goals and picking opponents apart for fun.
Madrid need to ensure that they do not hand too much early incentive to Barça, and it remains to be seen how Los Blancos fare against Rayo Vallecano.
