Alvaro Arbeloa describes Real Madrid’s exit from the Champions League as unfair and hurtful
Alvaro Arbeloa said the feeling in Real Madrid’s camp was one of “injustice” after Eduardo Camavinga’s red card cost them dearly in their Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich.
Having suffered a disappointing 2-1 defeat at home in last week’s first leg, Madrid put on a much-improved display in a thrilling rematch in Munich.
Following a brace from Arda Guler and a goal from Kylian Mbappe, the aggregate score was poised at 4-4 by half-time, with Aleksandar Pavlovic and Harry Kane on target for Bayern before the interval.
Both teams passed up chances in the second half, but the game turned when Camavinga – who entered the fray as a 61st-minute substitute – received two yellow cards in eight minutes.
The Frenchman’s second caution was for timewasting as, after fouling Kane, he dribbled the ball away and then picked it up to prevent Joshua Kimmich from taking a quick Bayern free-kick.
Slavko Vincic’s decision to dismiss Camavinga was met with furious protests from Madrid players including Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham, and Guler was also shown a red card for foul and abusive language following the full-time whistle, with late goals from Luis Diaz and Michael Olise downing Madrid 6-4 on aggregate.
And while Arbeloa congratulated Bayern, the red card was his main focus as he told reporters: “Nobody understands that a player can be sent off for an action like that. At that moment, the action is over.
“It is an unfair decision and we are very hurt. It’s something you can’t control. I congratulate Bayern on a great tie, but we would have liked them to beat us differently.
“It was an inexplicable red card, which nobody understands, hence the feeling of injustice and anger. All our work and effort has been thrown out by a decision like that one.”
Referee Vincic did not initially appear to realise that Camavinga had already been booked, and Arbeloa feels he would not have brandished the yellow card had he remembered the midfielder was on a caution.
“I think he got the card precisely because of that… the Bayern players had to go and remind him that it was his second,” Arbeloa said.
“But that is not a yellow card. I don’t know, or he [the referee]hasn’t played football. I think it’s even worse that he doesn’t know he had a yellow card, because it’s a double mistake.”
Madrid’s European exit means they will almost certainly endure a second straight season without silverware, given they trail Barcelona by nine points in LaLiga.
The last time they failed to win LaLiga, the Copa del Rey or the Champions League in back-to-back campaigns was in 2008-09 and 2009-10, but Arbeloa is not concerned about what that might mean for his future.
Arbeloa said: “Since I’ve sat in this chair, it wasn’t to show my level as a coach, because I didn’t want to win games with my decisions, but by helping the players.
“We have faced Bayern, [Manchester] City, Atletico [Madrid]… Most teams have the stamp of their coaches, and surely this one has less of mine than they do.
“But I have always tried to help the club in any way I can, and that is how it will be until the last day. I’m not worried at all, and I’ll perfectly understand all the decisions that the club might make.
“I’m a man of the club, and if I’m hurt, it’s not for me, but for Real Madrid. Because we are not going to win the 16th title this year. I care very little about my future.”
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