Real Madrid legend Luis Figo has demanded support for the club’s new head coach Alvaro Arbeloa ahead of him managing his first match at the Bernabeu against Levante on Saturday.
After Madrid lost the Spanish Super Cup final to another one of the Portuguese’s former clubs in FC Barcelona, Xabi Alonso was dismissed as manager and replaced by Arbeloa as the ex-defender received a promotion from the Castilla reserve outfit.
It came as a shock to many, despite the pressure that Alonso was under following a string of losses and draws to close out 2025.
Five wins in a row to trail Barca by four points was believed to have steadied the ship, though, but squandering a five-point lead after El Clasico and losing the Super Cup to the eternal enemy proved a bridge too far for President Florentino Perez, who showed Alonso the Bernabeu exit door at the turn of the week.
For Figo, however, he “wasn’t surprised given what was being published lately”, however for him personally he didn’t expect a change of coach now, “in the middle of the season, even after losing the Super Cup.”
“The dismissal is negative for everyone,” the one-time Ballon d’Or added, though things were no different in his time.
“In one season I had more changes of coach. It was a different world,” he recalled.
Figo is referring to the 2003/2004 season when he had no fewer than three different managers – Jose Antonio Camacho, Garcia Remon and Vanderlei Luxemburgo – across one term after Vicente del Bosque departed.
Figo hinted that Real Madrid and its fans must back Arbeloa
In times of chaos after the Spanish Super Cup final and Copa del Rey last 16 losses to FC Barcelona and Second Division Albacete respectively, Figo stressed that “Arbeloa is a commitment of the board and we have to support him for the rest of the season.”
“The priority is to return to normality. In everything. After the departure of a coach, stability, in every sense, is important because there is still a long season left.
“Madrid have two very important competitions that they can win. But we have to improve in all aspects,” he then concluded.
Real Madrid next takes to the field on Saturday, when it faces relegation-threatened Levante at home in La Liga as Arbeloa anticipates a frosty reception.
