Real Madrid's 4-1 demolition of Real Sociedad at the Bernabéu on Wednesday did more than send José Mourinho back to winning ways in his first home league game since his return to the club. It offered the clearest evidence yet of how he intends to fit Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham and Vinícius Júnior into the same attack.

Real Sociedad's Luka Sučić had cancelled out an early Madrid lead to level the scores by half-time, exposing defensive gaps Mourinho will need to iron out. But the hosts were transformed after the break, with Mbappé completing a hat-trick and Vinícius adding a fourth as Madrid pulled clear.

Spanish media coverage, digested by ONE, dwelt as much on the process as the scoreline. Reports described a pressing plan built around coordinated pairs and trios closing down by zone rather than a blanket high line — 'not high, thoughtless pressure' but 'intelligent' pressing designed to protect the front three and spring quick transitions.

At the centre of that plan is Bellingham, pushed higher and freer than in recent seasons to link directly with Mbappé rather than sit as a deep-lying playmaker. The England midfielder set up Vinícius's goal and was singled out in Spanish reporting as the player Mourinho is building his attacking structure around, with one outlet going so far as to declare that 'Bellingham will be Mourinho's leader.'

Mourinho himself was fulsome about Mbappé afterwards. 'What Kylian did... that was crazy,' he said. 'He has the talent to score and create situations. When the team is under pressure, he is able to drop back, connect with Vini and Jude, advance and create danger.'

He was careful, though, to frame the individual brilliance within a collective effort. 'Clearly he gave an amazing game, but the team was always a team,' Mourinho added. 'It was a great team performance with many high-level individual abilities.'

It is the puzzle Mourinho has been wrestling with since preseason — how to accommodate three players all used to being the focal point of an attack without breaking the team's balance. He has previously admitted the task is 'difficult' but insisted the trio are not 'incompatible', and Wednesday's second-half surge will have done plenty to support that argument.

Vinícius did not escape scrutiny entirely. ONE noted that Spanish reporting flagged inconsistency in his overall display even as he got on the scoresheet, alongside first-half defensive lapses that Mourinho's side will need to tidy up before sterner opposition arrives.

For now, though, the result — Mourinho's first home win since returning to the Bernabéu more than a decade after his first spell ended there — has bought him room to keep experimenting with a shape that puts Bellingham behind Mbappé, with Vinícius stretching play from the flank.