Jose Mourinho sprinted over to Denzel Dumfries to remind him of new La Liga rule during Real Madrid vs Espanyol

A new meme is born. Jose Mourinho has once again become a viral sensation after sprinting over to Denzel Dumfries to remind him of a new rule during Real Madrid's opening game of the La Liga season.

On his much-anticipated return to Los Blancos, Mourinho kicked off his second spell in charge of the club with a 2-1 win over Espanyol.

Jude Bellingham opened the scoring for Madrid, heading home from Arda Guler's inswinging free-kick in the ninth minute, but they were soon back on level terms when Alex Calatrava equalised on the half hour mark.

Madrid would go on to dominate possession for large spells and they got their just rewards in the dying stages, with new signing Carlos Espi netting his first goal for the club with seconds remaining of normal time.

By his standards, Mourinho's reaction to Espi's winner was relatively subdued. He clenched his fists before calmly making his way down the touchline.

However, we soon witnessed a far more animated 'Special One', when Denzel Dumfries was taking far too long over a throw-in as Madrid held onto their narrow one-goal lead at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat.

READ MORE: Jose Mourinho set ‘secret’ test for Real Madrid players immediately before La Liga opener

For those unaware, a new countdown rule for throw-ins has been introduced to Europe's major leagues this season, including La Liga.

If a team takes too long to restart a game from a set-piece, the referee will begin a five-second countdown. If play hasn’t resumed by the end of that time frame, possession will be given to the opposition.

As seen in the footage below, referee Jose Maria Sanchez can be seen reminding Dumfries of the countdown as he held onto the ball, and so did an animated Mourinho, who sprinted towards the Netherlands international.

It was an incident that reminded fans of the time Mourinho went from laughing in the dugout to sprinting over to the referee after Raheem Sterling avoided a second yellow card when Tottenham came up against Manchester City in 2020.

Speaking after the full-time whistle, the Portuguese manager gave his take on Madrid's performance in their La Liga opener.

“I think we deserved to win, but Espanyol didn’t deserve to lose," he said. "We played, especially in the second half, with great control and pressure. We took many risks, and I think we deserved to win.

"But a team like Espanyol, defending as they did, counterattacking dangerously, with players pushing themselves to the limit and being very well-organised, it’s tough for them to go home with nothing.

"But I repeat, we deserved the victory. When we talk about the defensive system, there’s one thing I cannot overlook: the physical condition of a team. They didn’t have any players at the World Cup and have been working together for a long time, and you can see it in the way they maintain this intensity of play.”