José Mourinho highlighted the "super quality" of Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior as key to Real Madrid's trophy ambitions this season. Speaking ahead of Sunday's match against Málaga at the Bernabéu, Mourinho praised the empathy and collaboration between the two superstars after Madrid started La Liga with six points from six. Mbappé scored a hat trick and Vinícius also netted in a 4-1 win over Real Sociedad.

Mourinho suggested Mbappé deserves the Men's Ballon d'Or following his record-breaking World Cup goalscoring exploits. He argued the award should recognize the best individual player rather than team achievements, noting "there are two or three [contenders] and we know who they are." The Portuguese coach dismissed the idea that the winner must come from Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain or world champions Spain.

Jude Bellingham also earned high praise for his dominant early-season form, with a goal and two assists in two matches. Mourinho described him as a "unique player" with diverse talents. While acknowledging the focus on his star trio, Mourinho emphasized squad depth: "Here we only have great players, great, great players, and great, great, great players. And the team has to work as a team."