José Alberto warns against viewing Mbappé as Real Madrid’s only threat

José Alberto has warned against viewing Real Madrid’s threat through the lens of Kylian Mbappé alone. The Racing Santander coach says the danger lies across the Madrid squad, whose players possess outstanding individual ability. The sides are due to meet on Sunday at El Sardinero, in a fixture long awaited in Santander.

The match comes after a gap of nearly 15 years since Racing Santander last faced Real Madrid. José Alberto spoke of the club’s anticipation and the difficult path it had taken to reach this occasion. He also stressed that his team would not abandon its customary approach. “We will try to keep our style,” he said, adding that courage must go hand in hand with balance rather than reckless risk-taking.

The coach also highlighted Real Madrid’s attacking strength. In his view, the Madrid side can win without producing an exceptional performance: “Real Madrid doesn’t need a great match to beat you; it looks for the goals first, then the match.” That warning echoes his insistence that attention should not be focused solely on Mbappé. José Alberto pointed to the individual talent throughout the Madrid squad and its capacity to unsettle opponents.

The Racing coach also praised Real Madrid and José Mourinho, saying the team was experiencing one of its best spells of the season. He nevertheless hopes to draw on home advantage and the crowd’s support. At El Sardinero, he said, his team feels a great strength with its supporters; he expects the atmosphere to put significant pressure on the visitors.

The table illustrates the scale of the challenge: Real Madrid sit third in La Liga with 24 points after 10 matches. Their record stands at 8 wins, no draws and 2 defeats, with 25 goals scored and 10 conceded. Across their last five La Liga matches, they have taken 4 wins and suffered 1 defeat. At home they have won all five matches, while away they have 3 wins and 2 losses from five outings. José Alberto summed up his team’s mindset ahead of the test: “We have nothing to lose.”