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Real Madrid’s Next Five Matches Compared to Barcelona’s After Stunning Manager Change
“There’s a mix of emotions,” Xabi Alonso told assembled media after watching his Real Madrid team fight back twice before ultimately losing Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup final to Barcelona.
It appears as though there was a much clearly thought process from those above him.
Just eight months into his tenure, Real Madrid parted ways with Alonso. The former Madrid midfielder left the club four points adrift of league-leading Barcelona at La Liga’s summit with half of the campaign still to play and on course for a top-eight finish in the league phase of the Champions League.
Yet, Real proudly adhere to lofty standards. As Alonso’s predecessor Carlo Ancelotti once noted: “One thing I learned at Real Madrid is that a draw here is the prelude to a crisis. No jokes. You have to get used to that.”
Alonso never had too much time to get acquainted to that brutal reality. Álvaro Arbeloa has been duly warned and faces an intriguing slate of matches which, if he ever needed reminding, must be won.
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Álvaro Arbeloa’s First Five Matches As Real Madrid Manager
Arbeloa has been given something of a gimme to get his Real Madrid reign underway. The capital club are up against second-tier Albacete in the last-16 of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday night. It’s been five years since a non-La Liga side knocked Madrid out of Spain’s primary domestic competition and given it will be his debut in the dugout, the former right back will surely steer clear of heavy rotation. Hansi Flick’s Barcelona also take on second division opposition, in the form of Racing.
Madrid would do well to not underestimate to not underestimate Levante either. The promoted outfit may be slumped in La Liga’s relegation zone, but they boast a surprisingly strong away record in the division, with 11 points from 10 games. Sevilla found out quite how testing they can be at the start of January, losing 3–0 in front of their own fans. It’s an easier fixture on paper to the one that Barcelona face, although Real Sociedad, previously competitors in the Champions League, have been nowhere near their previous levels.
Monaco are next to travel to the Santiago Bernabéu for Real Madrid’s last home game of the Champions League’s league phase. The principality club are unbeaten in Europe since an opening week loss to Club Brugge but have already undergone a change of head coach themselves this season, sacking Adi Hütter back in October. Barcelona face an away game for the third time in six days—this time they will rack up the air miles and head to Prague to take on Slavia.
Real Madrid’s Fixtures Compared to Arch Enemies Barcelona
Real Madrid | Barcelona |
|---|---|
Albacete (A) —Copa del Rey (01/14/26) | Racing (A)—Copa del Rey |
Levante (H)—La Liga | Real Sociedad (A)—La Liga |
Monaco (H)—Champions League (01/20/26) | Slavia Praha (A)—Champions League (01/21/26) |
Villarreal (A)—La Liga | Oviedo (H)—La Liga |
Benfica (A)—Champions League (01/28/26) | Copenhagen (H)—Champions League (01/28/26) |
There is no danger of Marcelino getting the boot at Villarreal, Madrid’s fourth opponent of Arbeloa’s tenure. The former Valencia boss has steered his current employers into La Liga’s top three, trailing Madrid by just four points with a game in hand at the time of Alonso’s departure. It’s an ever trickier game knowing Barcelona are taking on Oviedo in a game they will be expected to coast through.
Villarreal may prove to be Madrid’s most testing opponents over the coming weeks, but Arbeloa’s most enticing matchup is surely against his former manager José Mourinho.
Whether the ex-Madrid boss will still be at the helm by the time Benfica host Real Madrid in their last league phase fixture is up for debate: Mourinho has already enacted the end-days protocol of making the team sleep at the training ground. Arbeloa will know all about the Portuguese boss’s mind games having played 122 games under his watch in the Spanish capital. As for Barcelona, they wrap up their league phase campaign against Copenhagen.
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Grey Whitebloom is a writer, reporter and editor for Sports Illustrated FC. Born and raised in London, he is an avid follower of German, Italian and Spanish top flight football.