Arbeloa made his debut as coach of Real Madrid after a single training session against Albacete with a bad footing. He arrived without time for a life or death match in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey, far from the Bernabéu and against a theoretically lesser rival. The result was a premature, painful and difficult to digest elimination: 3-2 defeat against Albacete Balompiand. The worst possible scenario for a coach who was making his debut with the spotlight on him and with credit still to be built.
The development of the match confirmed the fears surrounding the team. Real Madrid did not find advantages, neither from individual talent nor from collective play. There was no continuity with the ball, no clear mechanisms to subdue the rival, nor that point of superiority that usually appears even on difficult nights. The difference in category was not noticed at any time, and Albacete, located in the lower part of its classification, competed without complexesas if the weight of the party were on the other side. And he was.
The change of coach did not provoke an immediate reaction from the players. There was no recognizable impulse, no emotional response to alter the team’s recent dynamic.. Real Madrid had just lost the Super Cup final and, in just four days, also said goodbye to the Cup. Two consecutive blows that narrow the margin of error and reduce the calendar of objectives. With the elimination, only the League and Champions League remain as ways to sustain the season, a maximum demand that contrasts with the fragility shown on the pitch.
Arbeloa, calm
Arbeloa, meanwhile, experienced the match from containment. He showed no visible emotions in the technical area, neither in the goals scored nor in the goals conceded. Standing serious, hands in his pockets, he conveyed an image of external control that did not always correspond to what was happening on the field. It was a debut without gestures, without excesses and without external signs of nervousness, but also without the energy that sometimes accompanies premieres and that can infect the group in extreme situations.
The scene was repeated throughout the game. Albacete’s final goal, in the final stretch, ended up sealing the elimination and left a feeling of competitive emptiness that was difficult to hide. There was no time to correct, nor to adjust on the fly with the peace of mind that a longer process provides.. The premiere went straight to the bone.
In The Chiringuitothe elimination was experienced passionately and a little skeptically, not believing what was happening.
The future
Madrid now faces a sequence of demanding matches, with less margin for error than ever and with the obligation to rebuild in full schedule. Arbeloa will have to work on the fly, adjust pieces, recover sensations and find a competitive identity that did not appear in his debut.either. The initial diagnosis is severe, but also incomplete: a single training session does not define a coach, although it can set the tone for his arrival.
The debut was rough, uncomfortable and frustrating. A start that gives no respite and places Arbeloa facing the most complex challenge possible: rebuilding Real Madrid without time, without recent titles and with the pressure of not failing. The Cup is no longer there. The margin has been reduced.
