Albacete surprises Real Madrid with an unexpected defeat
Álvaro Arbeloa’s coaching era with Real Madrid got off to an unhappy start, as the Royal team suffered a surprising defeat against Albacete with a score of (2-3) in the match that took place on Wednesday evening at the “Carlos Belmonte” stadium, as part of the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey for the 2025-2026 season.
Real Madrid played the match under new technical leadership, after the appointment of Álvaro Arbeloa as coach of the first team, succeeding Xabi Alonso, who ended his mission with the club after losing the Spanish Super Cup title 2026, after losing to Barcelona three goals to two in the final match.
Arbeloa’s start was disappointing for Real Madrid fans, as the team failed to overcome Albacete and said goodbye to the Copa del Rey early, making the elimination the first unsuccessful official test for the new coach.
In a related context, the famous Spanish account “Mister Chip,” which specializes in statistics, highlighted this difficult start, writing: “Coaches who started their career with Real Madrid by losing a title: Guus Hiddink, who lost the European Super Cup to Chelsea in his first match, and Julen Lopetegui, who lost the European Super Cup to Atlético Madrid in his first appearance, and finally Álvaro Arbeloa, who said goodbye to the Copa del Rey against Albacete in his first match.”
For its part, the “Stats Foot” network, which specializes in football statistics, revealed a new negative number, confirming that Álvaro Arbeloa became the first coach to suffer a loss in his first official match with Real Madrid since Julen Lopetegui, who lost to Atlético Madrid in the European Super Cup on August 15, 2018, and pointed out that Lopetegui played only 14 official matches with “Los Blancos” before being dismissed from his position.
