“I was convinced the squad was the right one,” says Arbeloa
Real Madrid captain Dani Carvajal believes the club has hit rock bottom after a humiliating defeat to Albacete saw them crash out of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.
Madrid travelled to the Carlos Belmonte stadium to face a side in a relegation battle in Spain’s second division, missing big stars like Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Thibaut Courtois, but still with more than enough firepower to do the job. Vinicius Junior, Federico Valverde, Arda Guler, Franco Mastantuono, and Dean Huijsen were all in the squad.
Albacete were the better team across 90 minutes. They took the lead in the first half, and despite Madrid coming back twice, they scored twice more to defeat the La Liga side 3-2 and head into the quarter-finals.
“I think we’ve hit rock bottom today,” Carvajal, who came on in the second half, said. “We’ve been knocked out by a second-division team. Congratulations to them. From tomorrow we’ll all do some self-criticism, individually and collectively. There’s still time to turn the season around.”
Madrid dismissed Xabi Alonso on Monday after he lost to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup in Jeddah, and appointed Alvaro Arbeloa, who was in charge of Real Madrid Castilla, as the new head coach. The embarrassing defeat came in his first game in charge.
“At this club a draw is bad, a tragedy, so imagine a defeat like this,” Arbeloa said. “It’s painful, especially against a lower division team.
“I’m responsible, I take the decisions – the team, how we want to play, the substitutions. We’ll try to recover our morale and physically, and improve for the game [against Levante] on Saturday.
“If people want to describe this as a failure I’d understand it. For me, failure lies on the way to success. I don’t fear that word. I’ve failed a lot in my life, I’ve suffered defeats in cups, I’m excited about getting to Valdebebas tomorrow and working with the players to do much better on Saturday.”
Arbeloa could not travel with a number of first-team players, including Mbappe, due to injury, while the likes of Bellingham and Courtois were rested due to a busy schedule. Six players from Castilla were on the squad that faced Albacete.
“I was convinced the squad was the right one, and I still think that,” Arbeloa said. “We have an extraordinary squad, with great players. It isn’t easy for them to do everything I’ve asked of them after just one day on the job. We have a lot of players to get back to their best physical level.
“I don’t regret anything. I’d pick the same team again.”
