Real Madrid star’s big argument with Arbeloa the reason for ‘disappearance’ for few games – report | OneFootball

In a major revelation, MARCA reports that Real Madrid defender Raul Asencio had a major disagreement with manager Alvaro Arbeloa, which contributed to his ‘disappearance’ from the squad for a string of matches.

The homegrown star eventually apologised to the manager and the rest of the locker room and has put the issue behind him.

What happened?

When Real Madrid faced Manchester City in the first leg of the UCL Round of 16 on 11 March, Arbeloa decided to drop Asencio from the starting lineup in favour of Dean Huijsen. That did not sit well with the 23-year-old, who confronted the coach about it.

For Asencio, the effort he made to be available against Celta Vigo three days earlier, when Eder Militao and David Alaba were injured, while Huijsen was suspended, deserved a starting place alongside Antonio Rudiger.

Asencio was dealing with a serious neck contusion suffered against Benfica, but pushed himself to play. As such, he was upset with Arbeloa’s decision and decided to confront him.

Tensions between coach and player escalated days later.

After being benched against City, Asencio was expected to start against Elche. However, on the day of the match, shortly before the usual morning activation session, he went to Arbeloa’s office to report minor muscle discomfort and that he did not feel fit to play.

This situation did not please the manager at all. The tension became even more pronounced when Arbeloa informed Rudiger, who had been set to rest ahead of the return leg vs Man City at the Etihad, that he would have to play against Elche.

Arbeloa involved in an argument with Asencio. (Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)

This change of plan did not sit well with the German defender, who is very strict with his preparation and match routines. With this, the ‘Asencio case’ moved from Arbeloa’s office into the dressing room.

Disappearance and apology

Following this, Asencio was left out of the squad vs Elche, did not travel to Manchester, and was again absent for the derby against Atletico Madrid, despite training normally. He continued to train daily, but was repeatedly omitted from matchday squads.

The reason was that he had not apologised to the team for challenging Arbeloa’s decision to bench him against Manchester City. The player had apologised to him privately, but the coach demanded that he do so in front of the group. Until then, he would not be selected.

The situation dragged on longer than expected because Asencio did not initially believe he needed to apologise to his teammates.

At one point, Arbeloa asked the group, “Does anyone have something to say?” at the end of a pre-training huddle, inviting Asencio to speak. The defender lowered his head and remained silent. Without an apology, he continued to be left out.

The issue began to take on a different dimension on social media as speculation about Asencio’s lack of professionalism began to spread.

At this point, he decided to bring the matter to a close and apologised to the dressing room, following which, Asencio returned to the squad against Mallorca and Bayern Munich, although he did not play in either match.