Albacete Upset Real Madrid
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What led to Albacete's upset victory over Real Madrid?
Hello and welcome into the latest edition of ESPN FC. Kay Murray, Alejandro Moreno and Stevie Nicol here in the studio, kicking things off tonight with Real Madrid and their first game under Alvaro Arbeloa. It was the last 16 of the Copa del Rey. It was against Albacete and they lost. They had to twice come from behind as well. Late stages, 2-2 after Gonzalo Garcia had the second of the replies, but... Albacete would strike again through the man of the match on the night, Kefte Bentancur, for a dramatic ending and that knocks Real Madrid out of the Copa del Rey at the round of 16. Albacete closed as an 8-1 underdog to win. They advanced to the quarter-finals of the competition for the second time and the first since the mid-90s.
It means Real Madrid is eliminated by lower league opposition for the first time since the 2021 season. As for Albacete, they are 17th in the second division, just one point above the relegation zone. Alex Kirkland, our Madrid correspondent here. This is a disaster for Real Madrid, Alex.
Yeah, it's the worst possible start for Abeloa. This defeat isn't on him.
How is Alvaro Arbeloa managing the pressure after his first match?
It's not entirely his fault. He literally took over yesterday, took his first training session yesterday, had his first press conference yesterday. But he was saying in his press conference just now, he tried to take responsibility. He said, this is on me. I'm the coach. I pick the squad. I pick the team. I make the decisions. But watching the team tonight, they still look like the same. Real Madrid team, of course, it's been no time at all for Arbeloa to kind of get his ideas across or really make any changes. And so there were sort of familiar flaws for this Real Madrid team tonight in terms of no real clear idea of how they want to play, difficulty creating chances, dodgy at the back as well. The one thing I think you can lay on Arbeloa, and again, he took responsibility for this in his press conference just now, is the team selection.
They left out a number of players, a number of big names for one reason or another, some minor knocks and injuries. This was a team without Mbappé and Bellingham and Rodrigo and Courtois and No Carreras. Other players were injured like Militao, Antonio Rudiger. Arbeloa brought in some youngsters from the reserve team, Castilla, who he's been coaching and he knows well. Some of them did okay. Others not so much. So I think, yeah, you can blame Arbeloa in terms of, like I say, the selection of the squad, the selection of the team. But we know that Real Madrid's problems go much deeper and go much further back than a coach who literally took over 24 hours ago.
Yeah, as Alex said, Arbeloa did say that afterwards for his team selection. But even that team should have been beaten Albacete, Ale.
Yeah, but Arbeloa himself, also in the same press conference and in the same answer, he said, well, you know, the issues of us playing against lower opposition teams, as we saw against Talavera, how difficult that was. So he knew. He knew this was going to be difficult.
What factors contributed to Real Madrid's elimination from the Copa del Rey?
And I'm not suggesting that this team that we just showed there shouldn't be better than Albacete and they shouldn't beat Albacete. Of course they should. Of course they should. That goes without saying. But if it is your first game, With this team, you are taking over the team. It's not only about the results, but also about the messages that you're sending to your now players. These players now are yours. And so while you may think, okay, we're gonna rest some players. Yeah, rest them, but take them on the trip. Put him on the bench, because this is the bench that was available to Real Madrid today. So when the game was getting out of control and you need some help, you're not turning to Manuel, Angel, Sergio Mestre, Joan Martinez, who?
Cesar Palacio. What? Right?
What does this loss mean for Real Madrid's season moving forward?
So that you have options. But most of all is the message that you're sending to the players. You just lost a final in the Supercopa de España. And I understand that you want to give a rest to certain players. Give them the rest, but have them there.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What led to Albacete's upset victory over Real Madrid?
0:04–1:13
2
How is Alvaro Arbeloa managing the pressure after his first match?
1:13–2:51
3
What factors contributed to Real Madrid's elimination from the Copa del Rey?
2:51–3:36
4
What does this loss mean for Real Madrid's season moving forward?
3:36–3:51
5
Why is Chelsea's loss to Arsenal considered flattering?
3:51–5:15
6
What are the implications of Chelsea's performance against Arsenal?
5:15–5:45
7
How did Senegal and Morocco perform in the AFCON semi-finals?
5:45–6:32
8
What can we expect from the AFCON final between Senegal and Morocco?
6:32–1:02:12
Speakers
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