Arbeloa reacts after Real Madrid lose 2-1 to Mallorca – ‘Without giving 200% we weren’t going to win’
Arbeloa reacts after Real Madrid lose 2-1 to Mallorca – ‘Without giving 200% we weren’t going to win’ Real Madrid suffered a major setback in the La Liga title race as they were beaten 2-1 by RCD Mallorca at Son Moix earlier today. It was a disappointing performance from Real Madrid as they went behind in the first half thanks to Manu Morlanes’ strike. An equaliser came in the 88th minute from substitute Eder Militao, but Vedat Muriqi struck in stoppage time to win it for the hosts.
The Merengues are already four points behind leaders FC Barcelona, who can now stretch their lead to seven when they face Atletico Madrid later tonight. Alvaro Arbeloa speaks out Following the disappointing defeat, Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa addressed the media in his pre-match press conference, trying to explain what went wrong for his team on the afternoon. “For me, it’s much easier to see the difficulty of the match, of the opposition.
It’s easy for me to see that; the tricky bit is getting the players to understand that today, without giving 200%, we weren’t going to win,” he said. Talking about the performance on the day, Arbeloa noted: “Even though we were the better side in the first half, a single lapse cost us a goal. “Here, you lose focus for a moment, you don’t adjust properly, you lose your mark, you don’t track him, and it costs you a goal.
When you’re not clinical in front of goal and the opposition are, you end up paying the price, because this is the elite. “Not having played a much better second half than we did is what hurts me the most of all. ” On whether this loss means the La Liga title is out of their reach, the Real Madrid boss remarked: “It’s tougher than it was before the match started.
We’ve got eight games left and, as I’ve told the players, whatever the league situation, our next objective is to win all eight of them. “And to do that, we have to play better than we did today and perform at a much higher level. It’s all more difficult, but our objective has to remain the same.