Arbeloa points finger after Mallorca loss, as big decisions required for Bayern

Real Madrid seems to be forbidden from getting their hopes up this season. After five straight wins – including two against Manchester City – Real Madrid arrived in Mallorca riding a surge of confidence and clear improvement in their play. It looked like the perfect platform to push in both La Liga and the Champions League. Then, at the first bend after the March international break, everything derailed.

A stumble in Mallorca that Álvaro Arbeloa took full responsibility for: “This defeat is mine. I make the decisions, I pick the lineups and the substitutions.” But he also pointed toward his players: “Not producing a better second half is what hurts me most.” Without naming him, he singled one out: “In a moment when we had superiority, a lapse costs us a goal. You lose your marker, you don’t track him… and you pay for it.” A direct barb aimed at Eduardo Camavinga.

Arbeloa was referring to the opener scored by Manu Morlanes, a play in which the French midfielder was badly exposed. The Mallorca player arrived unmarked from deep to finish a pass from Pablo Maffeo, with Camavinga trailing behind and Antonio Rüdiger visibly reproaching the lack of intensity. It was the moment that tilted the game uphill for Madrid.

Arbeloa waits on Jude

That mistake overshadowed what had not been a poor start. Camavinga had been active in the opening half hour – completing 43 of 46 passes, winning back five balls, and creating a chance. But that single lapse unraveled his performance, and he was substituted in Arbeloa’s first wave of changes, making way for Jude Bellingham.

The substitution was no coincidence. Camavinga appears to be fighting to keep his place in the starting XI, and displays like the one at Son Moix are pushing him toward a bench role.

Dressing room logic suggested Thiago Pitarch would be the one sacrificed, but Arbeloa seems unwilling to go down that path. He was left on the bench in Mallorca to stay fresh for Bayern on Tuesday. Bellingham, meanwhile, is not yet ready to start – something the coach acknowledged: “It’s only natural, we shouldn’t expect him to be at his best with so little playing time. The idea is for him to build rhythm.”

Camavinga now knows exactly where he stands when that moment arrives, with Madrid increasingly open to a potential sale and Paris Saint-Germain monitoring his situation closely.

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