It's safe to say Alvaro Arbeloa impressed many with the performances against Manchester City. Many believed the Premier League side was the favorite going into the tie, however Arbeloa set up his men perfectly to shut down City and grab victories in both legs. And with those two victories, the Spaniard made history on two different fronts for both Real Madrid as well as the Champions League in general.
As pointed out by Yahoo Sports, Arbeloa has become the first Real Madrid manager to win his first four Champions League knockout stage games, as well as becoming the first manager in Champions League history to eliminate both Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola and win both legs in the same season.
Arbeloa a history maker
When Alvaro Arbeloa was first appointed as interim manager following Xabi Alonso's sacking in January, many raised eyebrows questioning if someone who's only managerial experience is with the youth team would be capable of making the jump and saving a season that was falling apart. His first game in charge didn't go as planned, a loss to Segunda Division side Albacete, knocking Los Blancos out of the Copa del Rey, leading many to believe that the club did indeed make the wrong choice with Arbeloa.
However the Spaniard has been managing to turn the ship around. While he has suffered losses to Benfica, Osasuna, and Getafe, he has managed to put together a number of impressive victories with wins over Villareal, Real Sociedad, Monaco, Benfica, and Manchester City, showing what he can bring to the table with Los Blancos. Knocking out Jose Mourinho's Benfica 3-1 on aggregate and Guardiola's City 5-1 is impressive as is, but given the amount of injuries he has had to cope with, Arbeloa is showing his versatility as a manager as well as his tactical prowess.
Arbeloa clearly has the support from the players that Xabi Alonso struggled to gain, which has been a huge part of the success he is finding at Los Blancos. The manager is starting to win over the hierarchy at the club with this impressive run he's on, surely adding his name to the list of candidates to get the full-time job once the summer rolls around.
When it comes to the rest of the season Arbeloa has some big tests on the horizon, matchups against Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga as well as a Champions League quarter-finals matchup with Bayern Munich. These will be crucial final months for Arbeloa to make his case to get the full-time roll with a La Liga and 16th Champions League title still on the table.