At a glance
- Real Madrid slipped up once more by drawing 1-1 with Girona on Friday.
- The tie means that FC Barcelona can go nine points clear by beating Espanyol in the Catalan derby on Saturday afternoon.
- Post-match, Alvaro Arbeloa criticised a penalty call that went against his team.
Under-fire Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa said that a call not given to his side during a 1-1 draw with Girona is “a penalty here and on the moon”.
“And it is one more. Another one. It’s what we have [to deal with],” Arbeloa added at his post-match press conference. Like FC Barcelona rival Hansi Flick in the Champions League midweek, the Madrid boss also blasted VAR for not being active on the play where Kylian Mbappe was brought down late on.
“I don’t understand it, nor does anyone else. VAR comes in when it’s good and when it doesn’t, it doesn’t come in. I already said it yesterday and you know my opinion,” Arbeloa said.
“These facts maintain it. It is a very clear action. Kylian was called for a foul in the first half that was even less [a foul]. We have had a lot with the referees. With this one, in Mallorca… the usual.”
Arbeloa isn’t throwing in the the towel for Real Madrid
With Barca able to go nine points clear via a win over Espanyol on Saturday afternoon, Arbeloa refused to accept that La Liga has been “definitively lost”.
“No. I will have that feeling the day we lost it,” Arbeloa defiantly stated. “As long as it doesn’t happen, we will give our best in every game. This is Real Madrid and until the last day, we have to fight.”
Arbeloa transmitted the same message once more about Bayern Munich, where Los Blancos have to overturn a 2-1 Champions League quarterfinal first leg deficit currently in the Bavarians’ favour.
“I want my players to believe, that’s all I want,” Arbeloa said. “And the 25 of us who go there will be convinced that we can measure up. It’s normal for Bayern to look like favourites, but they’re going to have white shirts in front of them, a round crest. And I’m sure we’re going to measure up.”
Now all attention turns to the Allianz, where Arbeloa is fighting for his job. With La Liga slipping away, he can only save his neck by delivering a 16th European Cup.
