“I would have liked it if he played” – Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa on Kylian Mbappe’s El Clasico absence | OneFootball

Real Madrid saw their dismal 2025-26 season come to a crashing end on Sunday with a 2-0 defeat to Barcelona in which they failed to lay a glove on their Clasico rivals. It’s now confirmed that they have gone without a major trophy for the second year in a row, with the reality being that no title at all will be heading to the Bernabeu.

As per Marca, head coach Alvaro Arbeloa started his post-match press conference by complaining about a non-penalty decision that went against his side, although he refused to dwell on it too much. Instead, he asked his players to show the Real Madrid supporters that they are very sorry for their poor season.

“It seemed clear to me that there was an elbow, but nevertheless, congratulations to Barça for winning the league today. Our season is over today but we can’t give up. We defend something much bigger than all of us, the Real Madrid badge. We have to show that we are really hurt.

“We can’t say many things because we understand the frustration and anger (of the supporters). We can only look to the future and learn what we have done wrong this year. We always get up. I understand the anger of the Madrid fans. We need to collectively take a step forward and have a clear idea of what we have to do. For me that is the principle and learning from the fact that we have lost many points that we should not. You can play against Barça and lose, but against others you can’t.”

Arbeloa on Mbappe and Huijsen absences

Arbeloa explained why Kylian Mbappe was not called up for El Clasico, while also confirmed the reasoning behind Dean Huijsen’s late drop-out from the starting line-up.

“There are two weeks left of the season and we will have to see how he evolves from the discomfort to see if he can play or not. I would have liked it if he played, but he was not 100%. (Huijsen) wanted to play, but he was weak when he started to warm up. In a game like this, we needed energy.”

Arbeloa: We will have a conversation about my future

Arbeloa was also asked about how he expects things to go regarding his future as manager, with talks expected to take place now that Real Madrid’s season is over from a competitive standpoint.

“You know that we will probably have a conversation with the club as is normal, but I want the team to finish well and not get carried away in these three games. We want to the season on the pitch, and I’m going to focus and give minutes to players who haven’t had them recently.”