Arbeloa responds to Mbappé: A player who wasn't fit for Barcelona.. | OneFootball

Álvaro Arbeloa went to the press conference right after Mbappé had spoken and said this: "I’d love to have four strikers, but I don’t. I don’t even know what to tell you because I don’t have four strikers, nor have I said any such thing to him. He must have misunderstood me. At no point can I tell him that he is the fourth striker."

He continued: "To me, it’s clear that a player who, four days ago, couldn’t even be on the bench for a match should not have started today. Especially because this is neither a final nor a life-or-death game, and because I think Gonzalo put in a great effort, and because we had another match on Sunday where, as I told him, he will surely be the first-choice striker. Seven days later, he will surely be the first-choice striker again."

He added: "When players don’t play, they’re not happy, and that’s why they are Real Madrid players. I can understand Mbappé not being happy about not playing, but for my part I did not want to take any risks."

He clarified: "As long as I’m sitting in this chair, I’m going to decide who plays and who doesn’t. I don’t care what their names are, and if they like it, fine; if not, they can wait for the next one."

On his conscience: "My conscience is completely clear. I think it’s perfectly fine for players to show their dissatisfaction until the very last day."

On Mbappé saying the team had more structure in the first half of the season: "Mbappé also scored more goals in the first half of the season."

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

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