Real Madrid season in tatters, Arbeloa looking shaky after Euro exit
Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa's (2nd R) future is uncertain after Bayern Munich knocked Los Blancos out of the Champions League (Karl-Josef HILDENBRAND) Serial Champions League winners Real Madrid bared their fangs but left Munich staring down the barrel of a second consecutive season without a major trophy and left coach Alvaro Arbeloa's tenure looking tenuous. Nine points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona, Los Blancos seem destined to end a troubled campaign empty-handed after their dramatic European quarter-final exit against Bayern on Wednesday. Arbeloa's side took the lead three times at the Allianz Arena and until Eduardo Camavinga's 86th minute red card had every chance of going through after digging deep and going blow-for-blow with the Bavarian giants in a thrilling clash.
A late double for Bayern consigned Madrid to a 4-3 defeat on the night -- one on which Arbeloa said his team gave "their souls and their lives" -- and a 6-4 aggregate loss. "An honourable exit that will not provide consolation or avoid another revolution," wrote Spanish newspaper AS after a heady night in Munich. That revolution could cost Arbeloa his job and Los Blancos are braced for pain and possible change in the weeks and months to follow.
"I've always tried to help the club in the best way I can, and that's how it will be until the last day," Arbeloa told reporters after the match. "I'm not at all worried (about my future) and I will understand perfectly any decision that the club takes. "I'm a man of the club -- if I'm hurt today it's not for me, it's for Real Madrid, and because this year we will not win our 16th (Champions League title).
" Failure in the Spanish capital is rarely tolerated under president Florentino Perez without someone paying the price. When Arbeloa was promoted to first team manager in January, Madrid did not state the length of his contract -- suggesting that he had no long-term guarantees. The coach has found it hard to motivate the squad at times in La Liga, and has only 13 victories in 21 matches at the helm.
In his first game in charge, Real's superstars were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by second-tier Albacete. - Lack of balance - Yet, his bold, attacking line-up against Bayern almost paid off. Arbeloa left Camavinga and Thiago Pitarch on the bench and opted for an aggressive midfield trio of Jude Bellingham, Federico Valverde and Turkish playmaker Arda Guler, who struck twice.