Jose Mourinho will have to quickly wipe away the disappointment of missing out on Rodri to arch rivals Barcelona, as Real Madrid have still assembled a very talented squad for him that should have the expectation of winning La Liga back from the Blaugrana in 2027.
But who will be the most important players for the Portuguese manager this season? Here are the five most untouchable starters in the XI.
LW Vinicius Junior
VInicius Junior got a lot of unfair stick from even his own fan base last season, but there is a reason why this guy has won two Champions League titles for Real Madrid and was the leading club scorer in the second half of the 2025/26 season besides Harry Kane in all of Europe. The guy is a menace to defenses, and what he can bring to the table on the left wing, nobody else in the world can.
CM Jude Bellingham
The real best player of the World Cup, it is remarkable how Jude Bellingham can dazzle for the most scrutinized club and national team in the world and yet go underrated. People said he shouldn't be in the squad, and Jude literally put England on his back against Mexico and Argentina. Bellingham is a goal scoring machine, an elite defensive player, and the best all action midfielder on the planet.
GK Thibaut Courtois
Yet the most important player on Real Madrid is undoubtedly the goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. He is so good that he makes every other great goalkeeper in the world look ordinary by comparison. Courtois has single handedly won the biggest games with insane saves, and when you are staring down a counterattack, there is no keeper you'd rather have in a one on one than the big Belgian.
CF Kylian Mbappe
Kylian Mbappe is also undroppable, even if he has to prove he can win with a team at the elite club level after never taking home the Champions League for two clubs that have won five Champions League titles without him since he came to the elite level at PSG. But what Mbappe can do, in theory, is greater than anyone else.
LB Marc Cucurella
Fede Valverde is a better player overall, but Marc Cucurella is such a unique player as a shutdown defensive left back who can shuttle up and down the pitch with ease that he has to be undisputed already for Jose Mourinho despite not playing a real game for Real Madrid yet. The world saw that Cucurella is in the runnning as the best left back in the world during Spain's triumphant World Cup.
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