Mourinho Shows Up with a Black Eye After Training Ball Smashes His Glasses

José Mourinho is back at Real Madrid and pre-season has already left its mark on him. Literally. The Portuguese coach was sporting a heavily bruised right eye as he led his team to a 3–0 friendly victory over Schalke 04.

As soon as Mourinho appeared beside the dugout at the Veltins-Arena, the cameras briefly forgot about the players. The bruise was striking enough to trigger plenty of speculation on social media. The truth was far less dramatic, although probably no more comfortable for the man involved.

According to “AS”, Mourinho was accidentally struck in the glasses by a ball during a training session. The glasses broke and caused the visible cut and bruising around his eye. The injury is not serious, and he was able to carry out his duties as normal during Madrid’s final test before the start of the season.

“A ball hit me in the face during training. If I hadn’t been wearing glasses, it probably wouldn’t have happened at all. It could have been worse,” Mourinho explained.

The black eye did little to spoil his mood. Real Madrid defeated Schalke 04 thanks to goals from Kylian Mbappé, Dean Huijsen and Carlos Espí. The match also provided an opportunity for several new signings to make their debuts. Ibrahima Konaté started the game, while Marc Cucurella and Yan Diomande were among those introduced after the break.

Mourinho praised the quality of his squad and the progress being made with his tactical ideas. He acknowledged that some players are still catching up after returning to training later than their teammates, but viewed the final warm-up match as another positive step.

Real Madrid will begin their La Liga campaign away to Espanyol on 22 August. Mourinho demanded intensity throughout pre-season and certainly received it. Just not quite where the training plan intended.

Sources: AS, Cadena SER