Arbeloa in Lisbon: Humility, Bellingham and a Hug for Mourinho

Álvaro Arbeloa had been Real Madrid's head coach for about two weeks when the team travelled to Lisbon to face José Mourinho's Benfica on the last matchday of the Champions League league phase. His pre-match press conference at the Estadio da Luz covered the game, his players and his old coach. These were the main points.

The game: humility first

Madrid needed three points to stay in the top eight. Arbeloa said he had warned his players about the difficulty of the match and that the team had come to Lisbon "with a tremendous amount of humility". He expected Benfica to give everything in front of their own fans, and called the match "extremely difficult".

He also explained why the team trained at Benfica's stadium the day before, something not every coach does: it was a ground with good memories, and he wanted the players to feel the importance of the game.

A squad willing to listen

Asked about his first days in charge, Arbeloa described a group that was committed and willing to work, while admitting there was plenty of room to improve. Getting the most from a team, he said, takes time, work and training.

On Bellingham and Arda Güler

He was full of praise for Jude Bellingham: exceptional quality, even more impressive up close, and a player who wants to lead by example. He expects Bellingham to be a cornerstone of the team for many years.

On Arda Güler, Arbeloa highlighted his vision, final pass and change of direction, and his defensive work. The challenge, he said, is to get Güler's talent closer to the action, near the strikers and between the lines, and he predicted Güler would become a very important player at the highest level.

Mourinho, the mirror

The question everyone wanted to ask was about Mourinho, his coach at Real Madrid. Arbeloa called him a mirror and a great friend, someone who had been much more than a coach to him, but said nobody should try to imitate him: "My success will be to be myself." He said he looked forward to giving Mourinho a hug before the game, and added that Mourinho laid foundations for the success that followed, credit he also gave to Ancelotti and Zidane.

The coaches who shaped him

Arbeloa ran through the coaches who influenced his career, from Caparrós, who gave him his chance in La Liga, to Rafa Benítez at Liverpool, and then Pellegrini, Ancelotti, Zidane, Luis Aragonés and Vicente del Bosque. His conclusion: there is more than one way to win and to lead a group.

Our take

It was a press conference from a coach who knows the club from the inside: respectful of the opponent, protective of his players, and honest that the work had only just started. Whatever the season brings, PMBD stands behind the team and the man on the bench. ¡Hala Madrid!