Real Madrid Set Clear Target for Alvaro Arbeloa to Keep His Job—Report

Los Blancos are still alive in both La Liga and the Champions League this season after winning nothing in 2024–25.

Álvaro Arbeloa has four months to buy himself more time. | Diego Souto/Getty Images

Álvaro Arbeloa is not expected to last long as Real Madrid manager if he cannot deliver trophies in the coming months, it has been reported.

Arbeloa was quickly promoted from his previous role in charge Real Madrid Castilla when Xabi Alonso was fired on Jan. 12. He got off to the worst possible start, humiliated by third-tier Albacete in the Copa del Rey, but has since overseen three successive La Liga wins despite a Champions League setback.

The 2010 World Cup winner is believed to be more than an interim—reports last month suggested a contract until the end of next season is in place—but ESPN says it is “likely” Arbeloa will not still be in charge come 2026–27 if this ends up as another trophyless season for the club.

That stakes everything on La Liga and the Champions League, with Los Blancos out of the Copa del Rey and defeated by Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final.

In La Liga, Real Madrid have won six games in a row and still trail Barcelona by one point, although there are 16 matches left to play. As for the Champions League, a knockout playoff against Benfica must be played this month, owing to failure to finish in the league phase’s top eight places.

Real Madrid have extra Champions League matches to play. | Torbjorn Tande/DeFodi Images/Getty Images

A manager being promoted from Castilla to the first team midseason and winning the Champions League within a few months isn’t unusual at Real Madrid. That is exactly what Zinedine Zidane achieved 10 years ago, going on to repeat and then three-peat in the competition.

Arbeloa clearly has coaching acumen, but he is inexperienced as a coach and lacks the polished roster that Zidane inherited upon landing the top job, stacking the deck against him.

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Who Will be Real Madrid’s Next Manager?

If Arbeloa cannot rise to the extremely tough challenge and either steps aside or is fired—fairness would be allowing him to reclaim his Castilla job—then a new permanent manager is required.

The aforementioned ESPN update suggests that a significant issue is the lack of a “consensus” candidate. President Florentino Pérez apparently wants to go back to Zidane for a third time, although the Frenchman, out of management since leaving the Bernabéu in 2021, has been waiting patiently for years to become France’s next national team boss. Finally, with Didier Deschamps stepping back after the World Cup this summer, that position is available.

Jürgen Klopp is the subject of much speculation but represents a different approach that is hardly likely to sit well with Real Madrid’s notoriously defense-shy forwards.

Jürgen Klopp’s record over many years speaks for itself. | Marcel Engelbrecht/firo sportphoto/Getty Images

No one else really stands out as must-have.

Cesc Fàbregas is Europe’s most exciting young coach, but so was Alonso. Fàbregas’s lifelong ties to Barcelona also make it extremely unlikely he would take the job if approached. Mikel Arteta, notwithstanding his Arsenal passion project, similarly has a Barcelona background.

Enzo Maresca—a Pep Guardiola disciple—is available but comes with question marks about his ability at the highest level, while Unai Emery has always enjoyed his greatest successes building up and nurturing slightly smaller clubs, rather than delivering for expectant juggernauts.

José Mourinho and Thomas Tuchel rank highly with bookmakers but neither will get fans excited.

Last resort could be inviting Carlo Ancelotti back for a third spell. The 66-year-old is perhaps the greatest manager of the 21st century and only has a contract with Brazil until the summer.

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