The Result Carries Weight
MADRID — Álvaro Arbeloa confirmed what many in Spain had taken for granted for weeks: he won’t be Real Madrid’s coach beyond Saturday’s final game of the season. When asked if the La Liga match against Athletic Bilbao would be his last, he simply said, “Yes.”
Arbeloa was widely expected to be on his way out after failing to steer the team to a trophy following his promotion from the club’s reserve team in January to replace the fired Xabi Alonso. Madrid lost to a second-division opponent in the Copa del Rey in Arbeloa’s debut, exited the Champions League quarterfinals to Bayern Munich, and will finish second in La Liga to Barcelona.
That kind of season tends to write its own ending.
The Moment That Swung It
It was assumed that unless the team did spectacularly well under Arbeloa, he would be an interim coach until the club could find a better option in the offseason. And so it is playing out, with Spanish media rife with reports that Madrid is seriously considering bringing back José Mourinho for a second stint 13 years after he coached the club.
Arbeloa, 43, said he will seek “new challenges” after his first major coaching job. “I have already made the leap, improved greatly over these four months, and I feel prepared for new challenges,” he said. “Starting Monday, I will think about them.”
Saturday will also be the last game for veteran defenders Dani Carvajal and David Alaba, whose contracts are about to expire. Right back Carvajal, 34, has helped Madrid win six Champions Leagues since 2013, while the 33-year-old Alaba contributed in two of those European Cup conquests since arriving in 2021.
The Race Tightens
Farewell for Carvajal and Alaba is also quietly a changing of the guard at fullback — two men who lifted that trophy six times in the last dozen years will walk out together, and the club will have to rebuild that side of the pitch from scratch.