Manager says “this defeat is mine, absolutely all mine”
Alvaro Arbeloa admitted he was to blame for Real Madrid’s damaging loss to Mallorca on Saturday, after his side conceded in stoppage time to fall further behind in the La Liga title race.
Mallorca led through Manu Morlanes in the first half at Son Moix, before substitute Eder Militao returned to the pitch from injury to equalise in the 88th minute. However, Kosovo international Vedat Muriqi hit back with just a few minutes left on the clock to secure victory for the hosts.
The result left Madrid far behind Barcelona in the standings, after their rivals beat Atletico Madrid later on Saturday to move seven points clear. Madrid now have only the Champions League left to salvage the season, with the first leg of their quarter-final match against Bayern Munich coming up on Tuesday.
“This defeat is mine, absolutely all mine,” Arbeloa said. “What I need from [the players] is for them to already be thinking about Tuesday’s match.
“I’m the one who makes the decisions, and this defeat is entirely the Real Madrid coach’s fault. When they leave the locker room, they only have to think about Bayern.”
Arbeloa opted to start without Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham but introduced both in the second half with Madrid trailing and their intensity having dropped. He explained that Bellingham, recently recovering from a hamstring injury, is still regaining match fitness.
“He’s been out for many weeks,” Arbeloa said. “Against Atletico, he played 20 minutes. The idea is for him to continue regaining match fitness. He can’t be at his best without hardly playing any games. Patience with him.”
Madrid had entered the game on the back of five consecutive wins, including victories over Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, but the loss leaves their hopes of winning La Liga in tatters. But Arbeloa insists his team will keep fighting until the end.
“It is more difficult than it was before the game started but we have eight matchdays left, and regardless of how the league stands, as I told the players, our objective is to win all eight remaining games,” Arbeloa said. “We have to play better than we did today.”
