Real Madrid: Details of Dani Carvajal falling out with Alvaro Arbeloa revealed | OneFootball

Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa has not had an easy hand, taking charge of Los Blancos midseason from Xabi Alonso. While he is credited with improving the dressing room atmosphere at the Santiago Bernabeu, he has had to put out fires too.

Vinicius Junior has admitted that he did not click with Alonso, but his relationship with Arbeloa is much better, and he appears to have Fede Valverde on side too. Yet this week it emerged that a spat with Raul Asencio resulted in him missing the squad for three days after refusing to apologise to his teammates.

Tension between Dani Carvajal and Alvaro Arbeloa

Now Marca have revealed that captain Dani Carvajal also had a difficult period with Arbeloa. They say that after two serious injuries, and the added competition of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Valverde, Carvajal was demoralised after losing his spot in the team. The veteran right-back is going through ‘dark days’, having received no game time against RCD Mallorca and Bayern Munich. For the first time his position has been questioned, he feels unfairly.

His frustration bubbled over after remaining on the bench against Rayo Vallecano, and then finding Castilla product David Jimenez start ahead of him at Mestalla the following week. His anger was caught on camera, and he made it clear to Arbeloa that he was not happy. It was reported at the time that Arbeloa and Carvajal held peace talks, but Jimenez was swiftly demoted back to Castilla.

Injury to Victor Valdepenas

The tension between the two right-backs, one now manager, did not end there though. Carvajal continued to be unhappy with his situation, and at Valdebebas, they point to that as the cause for a ‘very ugly challenge’ in training on another Castilla product, Victor Valdepenas. The defender, who made his debut in December, was ruled out for a month after the incident.

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s role in calming Carvajal

It was Carvajal’s primary competition at right-back, Alexander-Arnold, who accidentally helped resolve the situation. Arbeloa decided to bench the England international after arriving late for training before the Madrid derby, handing the start to Carvajal instead. Off the back of that, Arbeloa and Carvajal have patched their relationship up, albeit Carvajal is still not content with his involvement.

The 33-year-old unfortunately looks on course to miss out on Spain’s World Cup squad this summer. Manager Luis de la Fuente reportedly wants to see significant proof that he is physically up to it before including him in his squad, and as such, Carvajal will need far more game time to do so.