“I would have liked it if he played” – Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa on Kylian Mbappe’s El Clasico absence

“I would have liked it if he played” – Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa on Kylian Mbappe’s El Clasico absence

Real Madrid saw their dismal 2025-26 season come to a crashing end on Sunday with a 2-0 defeat to Barcelona in which they failed to lay a glove on their Clasico rivals. It’s now confirmed that they have gone without a major trophy for the second year in a row, with the reality being that no title at all will be heading to the Bernabeu.

As per Marca, head coach Alvaro Arbeloa started his post-match press conference by complaining about a non-penalty decision that went against his side, although he refused to dwell on it too much. Instead, he asked his players to show the Real Madrid supporters that they are very sorry for their poor season.

“It seemed clear to me that there was an elbow, but nevertheless, congratulations to Barça for winning the league today. Our season is over today but we can’t give up. We defend something much bigger than all of us, the Real Madrid badge. We have to show that we are really hurt.

“We can’t say many things because we understand the frustration and anger (of the supporters). We can only look to the future and learn what we have done wrong this year. We always get up. I understand the anger of the Madrid fans. We need to collectively take a step forward and have a clear idea of what we have to do. For me that is the principle and learning from the fact that we have lost many points that we should not. You can play against Barça and lose, but against others you can’t.”