Alvaro Arbeloa has been appointed as Real Madrid’s new head coach following the departure of Xabi Alonso, whose position became increasingly uncertain after inconsistent performances this season. Alonso’s seven-month spell ended after a 3-2 defeat to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final.
Real Madrid moved quickly to name Arbeloa as his successor, although the club has yet to confirm how long the former defender will remain in charge.
Alvaro, who had been managing Real Madrid Castilla, leaves the reserve side sitting fourth in Group 1 of the Primera RFEF after taking over in June 2025.
Respect for Alonso and Deep Madrid Roots
Speaking about Alonso’s departure, Arbeloa made it clear there was mutual respect between the two former teammates.
“𝑰’𝒎 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈“𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑿𝒂𝒃𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒃 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕,” 𝑨𝒓𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑿𝒂𝒃𝒊. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆. 𝑰 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆.” 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕. 𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒑𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒍 𝑹𝒆𝒚. 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅.”
Arbeloa’s connection to Real Madrid runs deep. As a player, he made 238 appearances between 2009 and 2016, winning eight major trophies, including two Champions League titles. He also earned 56 caps for Spain, featuring in the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2008 and 2012 triumphs.
“This Is My Home”: Alvaro Arbeloa Embraces the Challenge
The 42-year-old did not hide his emotion after being handed the senior team role, describing the appointment as one of the proudest moments of his life.
“𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒃 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 20 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 — 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆,” 𝑨𝒓𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆. “𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒃 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚. 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰’𝒎 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅. 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝑴𝒂𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆.”
Immediate Tests Await the New Coach
Despite leading La Liga earlier in the season, Real Madrid have slipped to second place, sitting four points behind Barcelona with 45 points from 19 matches. In the Champions League, Los Blancos are currently seventh, collecting 12 points from six games.
Alvaro will have little time to reorganise the squad, with a Copa del Rey last-16 clash scheduled for next Wednesday.
Looking ahead to his first match in charge, Arbeloa said:
“𝙄’𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙩. 𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙥𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙡 𝙍𝙚𝙮. 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙛𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙨𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙.”
The coming weeks will quickly define Alvaro’s reign as Real Madrid seeks stability and a return to consistent dominance.
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