The Ten for the Tenth

Mou will trust the same group of the last two years

Ten men going for the Tenth Champions League win. For his third season at the helm of Real Madrid, Mourinho will rely on the same group of players with which he started off in the summer of 2010.

The continuity of his project will be the team's key to success. The coach will base his team on the premium starting eleven which has undergone very few changes since the Portuguese coach took charge. Casillas, Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo, Xabi, Khedira, Di María, Özil, Ronaldo and Benzema will continue to be Mourinho's starters. Ten untouchables who will be so again for the forthcoming campaign.
Only one player has changed in this starting eleven which Mourinho put his faith in when building his initial Real Madrid team. Carvalho was a starter for the first season and disappeared from the line-up in the second. His position was taken by Arbeloa who looks likely to feature in the team for another year.
Mourinho has constructed a solid and reliable strategy, only missing the cherry on the cake: the Champions League title. Progress has been consistent and the final step to consolidation is the assault on the Continental crown.
Many of the players, such as Özil, Di María, Marcelo or Benzema now have a maturity they did not possess three years ago. That being said, the average age of the Real Madrid first eleven is still only 26.5.