Real Madrid manager Álvaro Arbeloa is shouldering all the blame for what looks like the club’s first trophyless season in five years—and club president Florentino Pérez is more than happy to use the Spaniard as a scapegoat.
The 15-time European champions reached a low point in 2024–25 after they failed to win a major trophy the season after topping Spain and Europe. Legendary manager Carlo Ancelotti paid the price with his job, and less than 12 months later, history is repeating itself at the Bernabéu.
Except this season is, on paper at least, worst than last. Zero trophies, nine points off Barcelona, multiple headline-grabbing scandals and the dismissal of Xabi Alonso turned what was supposed to be a bounce-back campaign into a thing of nightmares.
As it is with every season that goes wrong at Real Madrid, the manager is the first person held accountable. Arbeloa is learning that firsthand as his time at the helm of the biggest club in the world ticks toward an inevitable expiration date.
Reports indicate Los Blancos are already scouring the market for a big-name replacement, with former Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp continuously linked with a blockbuster return to the touchline. Yet Arbeloa is hardly the person to blame for the unbalanced, ineffective team he inherited—a team Pérez built.
Pérez’s Transfer Strategy Set Real Madrid Up for Failure
Real Madrid went into the 2024–25 season with two glaring needs: replacing Toni Kroos and bringing in defensive reinforcements. What did they do? Sign Kylian Mbappé.
The season played out as one would expect after completely ignoring the club’s needs in the summer and winter transfer windows. Los Blancos could barely string together five passes in the midfield against worthy opponents and had a backline with just one natural defender after an injury crisis.
Then the summer rolls around again, with the team still needing depth at the two positions. What did Real Madrid do? Parted ways with Luka Modrić, the best midfielder and leader in the dressing room, and signed no one to replace him (or Kroos). New boss Alonso reportedly wanted the Croatian in his team, but the club opted to go in a different direction—a younger direction.
The Spanish giants prioritized their needs at the back and signed center back Dean Huijsen, left back Álvaro Carreras and right back Trent Alexander-Arnold, along with winger Franco Mastantuono.
Of the four players, only Alexander-Arnold started the biggest game of the season at the Allianz Arena against Bayern Munich. Huijsen and Carreras were rightfully kept on the bench in favor of 33-year-old Antonio Rüdiger and 30-year-old Ferland Mendy; the latter had only played 11 minutes in the last month prior to the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.
It’s a wonder Real Madrid even made it a game against Vincent Kompany’s men considering they had to rely on an XI with 10 of the same players from last season who failed to win anything. And they only made it a game because Arbeloa was bold enough to bench the two struggling defenders Pérez shelled out $126.7 million for last summer.
Arbeloa Inherited a Broken Team
Not only did Arbeloa have to try and mold a clearly deficient team into one worthy of silverware, but he also came into a fractured dressing room. Tensions were at their highest toward the end of Alonso’s reign, with superstar winger Vinicius Junior leading what many called a revolt against the rigid Spanish boss.
Pérez backed his No. 7 over Alonso and cut ties with the former Bayer Leverkusen manager after just 233 days in charge. Arbeloa then, got the unenviable task of taking over a team of stars with egos that will always run Real Madrid, for better or worse.
He earned the trust and confidence of his players, though, and the results started to speak for themselves after a shaky start. Real Madrid lost just two of their first 10 La Liga games under Arbeloa and made it past Benfica and Manchester City in the Champions League knockout stage.
The team was finally playing with some swagger, and players once again looked like a cohesive unit off the pitch. Vinicius Jr, meanwhile, was back to his best form, tallying 13 goal contributions in 16 appearances under Arbeloa.
Yet the same problems plaguing the team for the last two years eventually came back to the surface. Mbappé’s presence makes Real Madrid’s attack one-dimensional and there’s still no tempo-setter in the midfield. Combined with injuries to key players like Thibaut Courtois and a lack of discipline, Los Blancos didn’t stand a chance at claiming a 16th Champions League title.
The best manager of all time could have been on the touchline for Real Madrid and the end result would have been the same. In fact, he was last season, and look what happened.
Second Chances Only Come for Two Managers at Real Madrid
The team’s overarching problems combined with Arbeloa’s triumphs this season would be enough to give him at least one full season in charge at most clubs throughout Europe—but not at Real Madrid.
Pérez only offers second chances to Zinedine Zidane and Ancelotti. Arbeloa likely doesn’t stand a chance to keep his post after failing to salvage what was an already doomed season.
“I feel sorry for Arbeloa, and I feel sorry for a lot of the Real Madrid players,” Steven Gerrard said on TNT Sports following Real Madrid’s 4–3 defeat to Bayern Munich on Wednesday night. “You’ve got to feel sorry for them, and he probably will lose his job, Arbeloa. But I don’t think he deserves that on the evidence of [the second leg].”
Former Real Madrid midfielder Steve McManaman echoed the sentiment. “History from previous seasons has always suggested a change of manager and unfortunately I feel sorry for Álvaro Arbeloa because his game plan [in the second leg] was excellent.”
No matter how much Arbeloa might not deserve to get sacked, there must be a sacrifice—a fall man—to pay for such an unacceptable Real Madrid campaign. And who gets to remain? The omnipotent Pérez, who put the team in a position to fail over and over throughout the last two years.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Should Alvaro Arbeloa Pay for Florentino Perez’s Crimes at Real Madrid?.
