Álvaro Arbeloa reaffirmed on Tuesday that his Real Madrid squad “should not feel inferior” to Manchester City as they gear up for their meeting in the Champions League round of 16.
City had a convincing 2-1 victory over Madrid at the Bernabéu in December during the league phase, a match that contributed to the end of Arbeloa’s predecessor, Xabi Alonso.
Although Madrid’s recent form has been shaky, with two losses in their last four outings across all competitions, Arbeloa expressed confidence leading into Wednesday’s first leg, asserting that his team can face City “head-on.”
“We are Real Madrid; we never view ourselves as lesser than anyone else,” Arbeloa stated. “We shouldn’t feel inferior to any opponent. We are well aware of who we are facing—the club, the coach [Pep Guardiola], and the players. They’ve been champions two years ago. But we approach this match with great enthusiasm… We’ll play to win tomorrow.”
Midfielder Federico Valverde added, “This encounter is a bit different from the last one. Now it’s two-legged, and that alters things significantly. It’s crucial to secure a solid result for the second leg… We want to avoid repeating the last scenario where we let victory slip away due to our mistakes.”
Real Madrid will take on City with several key players sidelined, including stars Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham, along with Éder Militão, Álvaro Carreras—whose calf injury was confirmed on Monday—and Rodrygo, who just underwent surgery on a cruciate ligament injury.
“[Mbappé] is doing significantly better,” Arbeloa noted. “As I’ve mentioned, it’s about taking it day by day and monitoring his progress. This week has been very encouraging, and we anticipate his return soon.”
Arbeloa, who was part of the Madrid team that faced Guardiola’s Barcelona over a decade ago, now faces Guardiola as a coach for the first time.
“[Pep] always has a surprise in store,” Arbeloa said. “He’s a coach who can vary his strategies, no matter how much you scout his teams. I’d be surprised if there weren’t some adjustments in their approach or player selection.”
Arbeloa also took a jab at Barcelona president Joan Laporta, who claimed in a radio interview on Monday—conducted as part of the club’s presidential elections—that Madrid had “dominated” refereeing for as long as he can recall in relation to the investigation into payments made by Barça to former Spanish vice president of refereeing, José María Enriquez Negreira.
“Candidate Laporta?” Arbeloa remarked. “I think he’s the one who quadrupled the payments to Negreira. There’s not much more to say.”