Every Real Madrid fan will be asking themselves how did the club get to a point where a team floundering in the Segunda Division are beating a strong Los Blancos side. It's a worrying time at the Estadio Bernabeu and tonight's Copa del Rey at the hands of minnows Albacete is the lowest of the low.
Any notion of Arbeloa regalvanizing this beleaguered group of players has been quickly thrown out the window. A pitiful 3-2 loss has only piled more misery on Madrid after losing to Barcelona by the same scoreline in the Supercopa de Espana final on Sunday.
Alvaro Arbeloa fielded a team fully capable of beating Albacete but they didn't want it as much as their opponents. They have truly hit rock bottom and that was apparently the feeling in the dressing room after the embarrassing defeat.
Madrid locker room 'like a funeral'
Madrid players were reportedly "completely silent" after their loss to Albacete, and the dressing room was said to look like "a funeral", per Jose Luis Sanchez (via Madrid Xtra). This was a team consisting of Champions League winners, including Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde.
Those two played the full 90 minutes of the last 16 loss and clearly they were at a loss for words. A funeral at least has food and beverages on offer, there was nothing but one of the most damaging nights in Madrid's recent history for the players to digest at Albacete.
Arbeloa was thought to have tried improving the mood by taking full responsibility for the defeat. He even said as much in his post-match interview but he wasn't fooling anyone.
Tonight has raised huge question marks about the squad and whether some of the players deserve to be wearing a Los Merengues jersey. Madrid's board have reportedly made clear there will be no January transfer business but come the summer you can guarantee there will be many comings and goings.
Albacete chant paints a picture
To make matters even worse for Madrid the defeat comes against a team 17th in Segunda Division. They hadn't won a league game since December 8th and they only knocked out Celta Vigo on penalties in the previous round.
Alabacete fans made the most of their famous win against the biggest club in the world. Their supporters were heard chanting: "Thank you for coming, we finally won a game, please come back next week!"
Madrid have to bounce back in some way when they face Levante in La Liga on Saturday (January 17th). Arbeloa has three days to try and lift the spirits, but that seems impossible at this rate.