Alvaro Arbeloa spoke to the media ahead of Real Madrid’s match against Manchester City on Wednesday. He was asked about Vinicius Jr — which he expected — and he replied: “I expected this question from you. Whoever is on the pitch will be important. And Vinicius, too. We’ve had a lot of injuries and he’s taking on a huge amount of responsibility. He’s our main attacking threat, as you’d expect. And we need him at his best if we want to knock Manchester City out.”
Arbeloa on the match
“It’s a tough one… one where we need
the fans. We’ll be highly motivated. The Champions League is very special for us.”
Arbeloa on facing Pep Guardiola
“It’s motivating to experience a Champions League round of 16 tie; to experience a night like tomorrow. It’s very motivating. It will be a great experience. I’m really looking forward to it.
“He always has a surprise up his sleeve. No matter how many times you watch his teams, you know there’s always something in store, and you have to be prepared for the many variations that can appear. I’d be very surprised if there wasn’t some new formation or new player. He always tends to overthink his tactics.”
Arbeloa on Guti’s words
“I have immense respect for him because of what he means to Real Madrid; for the legacy he left behind. I greatly respect his opinion because, as I said, I’m not here to judge every opinion. Best regards; I hope I can give him a hug soon.”
Arbeloa on Laporta’s quotes about the Negreira case
“Who said that?” (“Laporta”) “Ah, yes, candidate Laporta! I think he was the one who quadrupled the payments to Negreira. So there’s not much more to say.”
Arbeloa on Kylian Mbappé’s injury
“He’s much better, but we have to take it one day at a time. He’s come back feeling great. And we’ll take it one step at a time.”
Arbeloa on his quotes from Vigo about ‘those who wanted to come’
“That doesn’t mean anyone didn’t want to come, no. I wanted to acknowledge those who made a tremendous effort to be there. To go out on the field and perform the way they did. That’s all I said. The interpretation… that’s up to you. No player who wasn’t in Vigo was there because they didn’t want to come.”
Arbeloa on his quotes about being the favourites for everything
“If I said it, I mean it. We shouldn’t feel inferior to anyone. We know how difficult this tie is going to be, but we’re going to face it with great enthusiasm. Looking them in the eye.”
Arbeloa on Eduardo Camavinga
“Much better, he’s had a really bad week. Here we say ‘worse than a toothache’. But he’s been back with the group since Saturday and he’s perfectly fine for tomorrow.”
Arbeloa on whether he has changed since becoming Real Madrid’s head coach
“Differences… I don’t think there are any. You simply gain experience. But I believe I’m the same person, even though I’ve been coaching Real Madrid for two months, which is like a masterclass. A huge learning experience. I’m going to enjoy every day I’m here until the end.”
Arbeloa on youth players being ready for tomorrow
“Well… I think we all agree that in Vigo, the youth team players showed they’re not afraid to step up. Thiago had a fantastic game, Palacios changed the team, Manuel Ángel was key on that ball… it’s not easy to trust the youth academy when you’re sitting here, and that’s something people need to understand. Because the best players in the world are here, and to play a youth player, you have to bench one of them. It’s not easy, but I have a lot of faith in them, and I feel that people identify with them. They’re ready for matches like tomorrow’s, as they’ve already shown.”
Arbeloa on whether he has a system in place for marking Haaland and Foden
“We’ll have to mark a lot of players, because they have a lot of individual talent. But they also perform well as a team; they can play with their eyes closed. It’s a match where we need to be very solid defensively, on set pieces… every detail is crucial. But we’re focused, confident about what’s to come.”
Arbeloa on whether a draw would be good enough
“I believe we will go out to win tomorrow.”
