Last season Jose Mourinho put all his energy into winning the Spanish ‘Supercopa’, feeing that it was important that the players get accustomed to winning.
Now after winning the title last season, Mourinho is not willing t settle for anything less than repeating as champions.
The Super Cup throws up an interesting match-up between Real Madrid and Barcelona, as this season the two ties are slotted in between three league games. So focusing too much attention on winning the Super Cup could result in dropped points in the league, something that Mourinho wants to avoid.
That is not to say that Mourinho intends give the Super Cup away, but he will put all his energy into the three league games because he knows that a bad run of results in the league could set a precedent for the rest of the season.
Last year, Madrid’s pre-season was based around the ‘Supercopa’. Mourinho consciously prepared for the season’s first prize, partly because the team needed to strike a blow to give them authority over Barça after having lost out in the previous league and Champions League.
Now, after having won the league last season, Madrid no longer needs to demonstrate that it can beat its main rival and the priority has changed: to be in the best possible condition for the start of the league.