Real Madrid (already) knows the name of its new coach. A few moments after announcing the departure by mutual agreement of
A choice that may seem surprising given the inexperience of the 42-year-old technician, who is preparing to experience his first adventure on the bench of a professional team, but falls within the usual operating mode of Real Madrid when a coach is dismissed during the season. This was particularly the case for Zinédine Zidane, who became first team coach on January 4, 2016 when he had been in charge of Castilla for two seasons.
Pure product of Madrid training
If Alvaro Arbeloa is far from possessing the same aura and cannot boast of having had the same career as “ZZ”, he nonetheless remains a well-known name in the “White House”. Trained at the club, he did all his classes there, passing through the C team then Castilla before playing his first minutes in the professional world during the 2004-2005 season. A right-back by trade, he spent most of his career in the Spanish capital, where he played from 2009 to 2016 after emerging in Liverpool.
Total results: 238 matches, two successes in the Champions League and a Spanish championship title, completing an equally well-stocked track record in the jersey of the national team, since Arbeloa was part of the blessed generation of La Roja, double European champion and world champion between 2008 and 2012.
Convincing results with the U19s but worrying with the reserves?
Retired from the field at 34 after a final unsuccessful experience at West Ham in 2017, the new boss of Real wasted no time in making his return to the club of his heart, where he has definitely known everything. Eager to begin a coaching career, the former defender once again climbed the ranks within the youth teams: Infantil A (U13), Cadete A (U16) then Juvenil A (U19), an age category with which he notably won the Championship – Copa del Rey – Champions League treble in 2022-2023.
Appointed Castilla coach in June 2025 in place of Raúl, another Merengue legend, he struggled to impose his mark. With 12 wins, 3 draws and 8 defeats, the reserve team currently ranks fourth in its group in Primera RFEF, the third national division. Disappointing results given the equipment available to Arbeloa, faced with other reserves but also with semi-professional clubs every weekend.
Enough before diving into the deep end to manage Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius and Jude Bellingham? First element of response from Wednesday in the Copa del Rey against Albacete.
