Arbeloa praises Vinicius Jr and discusses Mbappé’s absence | OneFootball

After Real Madrid's qualification over Benfica in the Champions League, coach Álvaro Arbeloa gave important statements about Vinicius Jr. The Brazilian was the protagonist of headlines in recent weeks related to yet another accusation of racism and helped the Merengues by scoring a goal.

“Happiness for the great goal he scored, because he deserves it, and for the form he is in. Without Mbappé, he is even more important, and I am very happy for him, because I think he deserves it a lot,” said Arbeloa.

Mbappé's Absence

Kylian Mbappé, Real's top scorer of the season, was not listed for the match due to an undisclosed injury so far. Arbeloa stated that the number 10 did not finish the last training session due to discomfort, and that Mbappé should return after fully recovering.

“After training, I talked to him and the doctors, and we believe the best thing was for him to stop, recover 100%, and return in a state of form and confidence, without discomfort, for everything that is to come. He is very important and, from now on, we will wait. We will see if it is a matter of days and hope it doesn't take long, but as long as necessary for Mbappé to regain confidence and for the discomfort to disappear,” he commented.

“We have a diagnosis, but this kind of data about the players' health is not for me to disclose. We are very clear about what was happening, what happened, and what is happening now. We want him to recover, to be 100%, and that's why we decided he should stop,” explained the coach.

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Qualification Despite Absences

Without being able to count on Eder Militão, Rodrygo, Jude Bellingham, and Mbappé, the coach commented on the importance of the qualification and how it strengthens the team. Arbeloa joked about his team performing better in the second half, with the qualifying goal coming in the final 35 minutes.

“Without all these very important, fundamental players, who have great quality. Therefore, the game is even more important, and having passed this round against a great team, which we were able to beat in both games. This greatly strengthens the group, which, even with all these absences, manages to compete and win matches like today’s,” he said.

“Not every day are the second halves better than the first. Maybe my halftime talks are better than the pre-game ones. I’ll have to take a look at that. In the first leg, we had an excellent first half, and Benfica pressured us a lot and put us in a lot of difficulty. We were lucky to equalize early, and it was a shame about Güler’s disallowed goal,” Arbeloa pointed out.

Facing Manchester City Once Again

Facing Manchester City under Pep Guardiola several times in recent editions of the Champions, the Merengue fans have already gotten used to dueling with the English club. Álvaro Arbeloa emphasized that he would love to face the Cityzens again, but assures that, regardless of the opponent, the match will be of very high level.

“My wish was to be in the draw, which was the goal of tonight. People have already gotten used to a Manchester City, as it’s six or seven consecutive years facing them. It’s a lot, but we will surely face them again. No matter the opponent, it will be a very difficult tie, knowing that we will have the return match away from home. Both opponents will be a great challenge,” he concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.