Alvaro Arbeloa has moved to defuse a public row with Kylian Mbappe over the Frenchman’s place at Real Madrid, insisting the situation is “more normal” than the noise surrounding it, as the outgoing manager prepares to face Sevilla in what is expected to be his penalty shootout in charge.
Mbappe made headlines this week when he told reporters that Arbeloa informed him that he is the club’s fourth-choice striker after Franco Mastantuono, Vinicius Junior and Gonzalo Garcia, who was used as a substitute in the 69th minute of Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Real Oviedo.
Arbeloa denied the formation before addressing the situation in a press conference ahead of Sunday’s trip to Sevilla.
“I don’t even have four strikers and I have never said such a thing,” he said when commenting before the game.
“I understand that many of these things may seem like news,” Arbeloa told reporters. “Everything he said in the mixed area was something he had already talked about with me before. I deal with it normally because, as I always tell my players, I’ve been there and I know how they feel in any situation. I know what it’s like to play every day, I know what it’s like to play a little, and I know what it’s like not to play at all.
“I see everything that has happened these days as normal, and my relationship with Mbappe has not changed.”
Mbappe was careful not to escalate things. “I have no problem with Arbeloa, he must accept the coach’s philosophy and I must do better to play before Vini, Gonzalo, and Mastantuono,” he said, adding that the decision must be respected even if he is ready to start.
‘The hardest thing at Real Madrid is when you don’t win’
As the season enters its final days and his tenure draws to a close, Arbeloa once again showed clearly what four months have meant to him – and what has hurt him the most.
“The most difficult thing in this club is always when you don’t win. And that’s what hurts me the most: not helping the club and the players reach their goal, which was to win titles. The most difficult thing in Real Madrid is always not winning because of the level we expect and because of the hopes of many people sitting on our shoulders. Not being able to help me more is what helped me the most.”
Real Madrid ended the season without a trophy after a campaign that included a Copa del Rey exit at second-tier Albacete in Arbeloa’s first competitive game in charge, a Champions League exit and a La Liga title comfortably won by Barcelona.
Arbeloa replaced Xabi Alonso in January following a tumultuous start to the campaign and has often spoken of the experience as an extraordinary personal education.
“I came here four months ago as a Primera RFEF coach, the day I leave, I will leave as Real Madrid coach,” he said. “I don’t think there are many coaches who can say the same. For me, these four months have been amazing, a huge personal learning curve and learning. Today is the only day, I believe that, unless I’m older, I will leave with a clear conscience.”
Abreloa gives Mourinho the nod
The biggest moment of the press conference came when Arbeloa was asked about Jose Mourinho, who has emerged as the frontrunner to follow him to the Bernabeu this summer along with Didier Deschamps.
Arbeloa, who played under Mourinho during the Portuguese manager’s time at Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013, left no doubt about his opinion.
“I think all my life it was clear what I think about him. For me as his player, but above all as a madridista, I feel him and I believe he is the first.
“My partner asked me a few days ago if I still think what I said when we faced him in the Champions League, and I will continue to think that Jose has always been, is, and always will be uno di noi. If he is here next season, I will be very happy to see him back home.”
