José Mourinho wastes no time making two major Real Madrid changes

Jose Mourinho has officially completed his coaching staff ahead of his second stint at Real Madrid, making two more significant changes before the new season.

The Portuguese manager has brought in another trusted face from Benfica, sports physiologist Sandro Carriço, while parting ways with Luis Llopis, the goalkeeping coach who played a key role during the club’s trophy-filled eras under Zinedine Zidane and Carlo Ancelotti. Although it remains unclear whether Llopis will leave Real Madrid entirely, he will no longer be part of the first-team coaching staff.

Pintus remains part of Mourinho’s plans

The situation is different for veteran fitness coach Antonio Pintus. Even though Mourinho has hired longtime confidant António Dias as part of his staff, Pintus will continue working closely with the first team, as previously reported by AS.

His ongoing role is reflected on Real Madrid’s official coaching staff list, where Pintus remains part of the organizational chart. Llopis, however, is no longer included.

Benfica goalkeeping coach takes over

Replacing Llopis is Nuno Santos, Benfica’s former goalkeeping coach, as first reported by AS.

Santos and Mourinho have shared a close professional relationship for decades. This will be the fourth coaching project they have undertaken together after previous spells at Tottenham Hotspur, Roma and Benfica.

Their connection goes back even further. Early in his coaching career, when a young Mourinho briefly worked as a goalkeeping coach at Vitória de Setúbal, Santos was one of his players. This season, Santos will oversee Real Madrid’s goalkeepers, including Thibaut Courtois, Andriy Lunin and academy prospects Fran González Mestre and Javi Navarro.

Another trusted Benfica addition

Mourinho’s final staffing move is the arrival of Sandro Carriço, a sports physiologist and sports science specialist who most recently worked at Benfica Lab.

Carriço becomes the sixth member of Benfica’s staff to follow Mourinho to Madrid. He joins assistant coach and right-hand man João Tralhão, trusted assistant Pedro Machado, analyst Roberto Merella, fitness coach António Dias and goalkeeping coach Nuno Santos.

The club has also added fresh faces beyond Mourinho’s own appointments. Former Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira has joined the coaching staff as an assistant, serving as a liaison between the coaches and players.

Meanwhile, in a strategic move aimed at addressing the team’s persistent injury problems, Real Madrid has hired AS Monaco’s former team doctor in hopes of reducing the number of injuries that have plagued the first team in recent seasons.

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