Real Madrid are officially out of the Champions League and are all but officially on the road to missing out on trophies for a second straight season, which is a disastrous situation for a club of this stature and with the expectations they have to be in, especially since they won the Champions League and La Liga doubles in two of three seasons under Carlo Ancelotti between 2021 and 2024.
New manager Alvaro Arbeloa has tried to steady a ship that was wobbling in the last throes of Ancelotti's 2024/25 reign and seemed to be on the verge of a Titanic impact, and, in all honesty, Arbeloa has done a great job of getting the players to rally together. The likes of Vinicius Junior and Fede Valverde have improved markedly under the former Real Madrid right back, as have others.
It isn't enough, though. The flaws in the Real Madrid squad - cough, Kylian Mbappe, cough - run too deep, and Real Madrid were just not good enough to take down Bayern Munich in the Champions League. After the game, Arbeloa spoke to the press about the result and dropped a hint about his future, via Madrid Xtra, “I’m not worried (about my future). I will accept whatever the club decides. I’m hurt but not for me, I’m sad for the players, the club, the fans. I think I’ve done everything I could to help the team win games.”
Alvaro Arbeloa may have to bid farewell
Now that Real Madrid are officially out of the Champions League, which was certainly not an unforeseen circumstance in view of the dysfunction and flaws of Florentino Perez's latest Galacticos project, the discussions around Alvaro Arbeloa's future will move into full swing.
Arbeloa should not be made a scapegoat for the results, but, at the same time, he was only hired to be an interim manager. Under that scope, he has outperformed expectations, and despite a red card and all the issues that happened, Real were still very close to a comeback at the Allianz Arena against a team that just might be the actual best squad in the world right now.
The words Arbeloa told the press were very humble and came from the place of someone who loves the club. But they were also honest. Arbeloa's future is far from guaranteed, and this may be the time that seals his fate and leads Florentino to go for a more established name. But as Xabi Alonso taught us, sometimes the people who we think are best for the job are not, and Madridistas should be thankful for Arbeloa and his selflessness as a coach, if this were to be the beginning of goodbye.
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