Real Madrid is ‘broken at the seams’ while its players think they are ‘sh*t’ after Wednesday’s shock 3-2 loss to Second Division Albacete in the Copa del Rey last 16, according to a popular El Chiringuito guest.
In what was a nightmare start for new head coach Alvaro Arbeloa after taking over from fired predecessor Xabi Alonso at the start of the week, a Madrid outfit that was full of youngsters and substitutes, but also marquee names such as Vinicius Jr. and Arda Guler, ultimately fell to a 94th minute lob of Andriy Lunin by Jefte Betancor.
Arbeloa called the upset a ‘tragedy’ post-match. And with Real Madrid essentially squandering two chances to win silverware in a matter of days, after bitter rival FC Barcelona beat it in the Spanish Super Cup final, Juanma Rodriguez ranted that confidence has never been so low at the Bernabeu while pointing the finger at Alonso.
Alonso is to blame for Real Madrid being ‘dead’ and ‘physically devastated’
“They think right that they are sh*t right now. That’s what Real Madrid’s players think. And I say that’s not true,” Rodriguez barked.
“It’s been a f*cking disaster. He has the players physically devastated. The team is broken, broken at the seams. These guys are dead. And that is not my fault, nor of [popular pundits] Tomas Roncero, nor of Alfredo Duro. It’s the fault of the professional who is in charge of physical preparation at Real Madrid with Xabi Alonso,” Rodriguez added.
Rodriguez also said that “the cake that Xabi Alonso has left us has to be baked”, but Arbeloa wasn’t spared for choosing the wrong line up and going too far with rotations, without evening mentioning the decision to leave Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham at home.
Ultimately, though, Rodriguez believes that the new manager’s squad has “the capacity to win La Liga and to do more things than they are doing”, and it now remains to be seen if Arbeloa can turn things round.
Real Madrid boss Arbeloa vowed to improve after the Albacete loss
Reacting to the defeat, Arbeloa suggested that the setback will only make him stronger while refusing to accept it was a failure.
“Whoever wants to describe this defeat like that, I understand. Failure is on the way to success, for me they are not in opposite directions. This is going to make me improve, we have a lot of improvements to make but I’m not afraid of failure,” the 2010 World Cup winner with Spain insisted.
“I’ve failed many times in my life. I’ve suffered cup eliminations worse than this, and I have all the spirit of returning tomorrow to Valdebebas to work with my players,” Arbeloa added.
For the coach and Real Madrid, Saturday’s hosting of relegation-threatened Levante at the Bernabeu in La Liga provides a good opportunity to get back on track. In some corners, though, it has been suggested that the underperforming players might be booed by the home support.
