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Mourinho's second stint in charge of the LaLiga giant looked set to start in underwhelming fashion, after Cala cancelled out Jude Bellingham's opener in the first half.

But Espi, who was a €25 million ($40.7 million) signing from Levante last month, came off the bench to stun what had been a lively crowd at RCDE Stadium into silence, sweeping into an empty net after Kylian Mbappe prompted a scramble in the Espanyol area.

Having been handed an additional rest period are the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Madrid is up and running with three points ahead of Barcelona starting its campaign on Monday (AEST) away to Elche.

"I believe that it must be hard for Espanyol to digest this loss. They fought, played well and held on until really late in the match but I think we deserved the win," Mourinho said after the win.

"It was a win with soul, with resiliency, with the strength we have from the bench. I'm happy with the hunger the players showed coming from the bench, that is what we need."

Mourinho could hardly have asked for a better start to his second stint in charge as Madrid went in front after nine minutes, via Bellingham's leaping header from Arda Guler's free-kick.

Espanyol gradually grew into the game, however, and after captain Edu Exposito fired over on the swivel, they drew level on the half-hour mark.

A patient, back-to-front move from the hosts culminated in Javi Hernandez sliding a low ball into Cala, who beat Thibaut Courtois on his left foot.

Marko Dmitrovic had to stay alert to prevent Mbappe from sneaking a shot inside the near post, but Espanyol should have gone into half-time with the lead, after Roberto Fernandez miscued with a close-range header after some fine work from Omar El Hilali.

Madrid came out motivated after the interval, with Dmitrovic denying Bellingham a near-identical goal to his opener, via a full-stretch save onto the crossbar, but Vinicius Junior was arguably fortunate to avoid a second yellow card for simulation soon afterwards.

Visiting captain Federico Valverde was agonisingly close to restoring Madrid's lead when his side-footed effort from the edge of the area skipped across the turf and bounced off the outside of the post, but Mourinho did have a goal to celebrate with stoppage-time looming.

Mbappe bundled his way into the area and was challenged by Tyrhys Dolan, but Espi beat Dmitrovic to the loose ball and slotted into the empty net, prompting wild celebrations among all those in white.

Three of Madrid's starters – Bellingham, Mbappe and Thibaut Courtois – reached at least the quarter-finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while Marc Cucurella, a member of the victorious Spain team, came off the bench to make his competitive debut for the club.

When asked about the difficult nature of this game, Mourinho said: "You can't ignore the physical condition of the team.

"They [Espanyol] didn't have anyone in the [2026 FIFA] World Cup and they've been working together for a long time, and you could see that in their intensity.

"I didn't expect Jude to be able to play for so long. When it comes to pushing the way I like to, we lack minutes and kilometres in the legs.

"That's why I value this victory very much, it's a victory with soul, also from the bench. A frustrated bench doesn't help at all, but a bench with a team feeling helps you win. It was a difficult match, and they are three very important points."

Madrid faces a quick turnaround ahead of its second LaLiga fixture, at home to Real Sociedad next Thursday (AEST), before Malaga visits the Spanish capital a week on Monday (AEST).