Born in Madrid, Mario Hermoso joined the youth set-up at Real Madrid at the age of ten. He progressed through all the junior teams at the record Champions League winners and in 2015 he played for the reserve team Real Madrid Castilla. That was followed by a 12-month loan to second division Real Valladolid where he made his professional debut. In the following season in 2016/17, Hermoso regularly played for the Real Madrid reserve team before his long stay at Real Madrid drew to a close at the end of the season – for a good sporting reason.
In the summer of 2017, Hermoso moved up to the Primera Division, the forerunner of today's La Liga. He played for Espanyol and made his top-flight debut on 9 September 2017 in the derby against Barcelona. Hermoso quickly established himself in Spain's top division with 54 league appearances in two seasons – and he earned the first of a total of five international caps with Spain in that time.
Hermoso's performances at Espanyol and for Spain attracted the attention of Atletico Madrid who brought him back to the capital in the summer of 2019. The 1.84 metre tall left footer spent five successful years at the Rojiblancos, winning the Spanish league title with them in 2021 and clocking up 29 games in the Champions League.
Hermoso faced the Werkself four times in his time at Atletico. The record from the Champions League group stage encounters in 2019/20 and 22/23: one win, one draw, two defeats. Hermoso was in the starting line-up in all four matches.
Moreover: To date he has not played more games against any other foreign club then he has against his new club, the German double winners from Leverkusen…
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Heading towards the competitive start of the 2026/27 season together: the Werkself kicked off preparations for the DFB Pokal clash at third-tier SV Wehen Wiesbaden with an open session in front of their fans on Tuesday morning. Before the first-round tie on Saturday 22 August at 13:00 CEST - for which the away section is already sold out - there'll be one more open session on Thursday from 11:00 CEST, when fans have another chance to watch head coach Carles Martínez's men at work.
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