Real Madrid begin their 2026–27 Champions League campaign against Inter on Tuesday night with the kind of selection issues that change the tone of a preview fast. Bernardo Silva, Eduardo Camavinga and Arda Güler are all suspended, and Ferland Mendy was not included on the Champions League roster at all.

The biggest practical problem is in midfield and wide attack. Bernardo Silva has made only three league appearances for Madrid this season, so his suspension removes a player who was still settling in. Güler has already contributed two direct goal actions in three league appearances, which makes his absence harder to brush off.

Madrid's available options

James Cormack of si.com said that "Mourinho heads into Real Madrid’s Champions League opener with a long list of unavailable players, including Ferland Mendy, who wasn’t included on their roster for this competition at all." He also noted that "Bernardo Silva, Eduardo Camavinga and Arda Güler are all suspended."

That leaves Madrid with less room to rotate than they would want in a first European night. Their last league result was a 1-0 defeat away to Real Betis, but the league form before that was strong enough to soften the blow, with four wins in the last five.

Inter's side of the equation

Inter come in with a decent recent run of their own. They beat Napoli 3-2 in their latest league match and are unbeaten in their last five, with three wins and two draws.

There is a temptation to make this all about Madrid's reputation in Europe, but the recent numbers are closer than that suggests. Madrid finished ninth in the 2025 Champions League standings, Inter finished 10th, and both clubs went 5W-0D-3L in that competition. Add the current absences on the Madrid side and this looks like a much tighter opener than a name-check of the clubs alone would imply.

The cleanest read is that Madrid's availability issues matter more than the badge match-up here. Tuesday night in Madrid will tell us whether that still leaves them enough to start the campaign properly.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →