My relationship is still the same: Arbeloa ends Mbappé row | OneFootball

Álvaro Arbeloa has definitively downplayed the exchange of remarks he had with Kylian Mbappé last Thursday. The Real Madrid coach spoke to the media in a calm and natural tone to ease tensions around the club.

For the coach, the French star’s frustration at not being in the starting lineup against Oviedo is understandable and even positive. "I understand how players feel when they don’t play. Kylian wasn’t happy the other day, and I like that," the Salamanca-born manager told reporters.

The Madrid coach revealed that he had just run into the French forward before entering the press room. "I told him to stay calm, that I’d take care of it," Arbeloa admitted, trying to play down an episode that has filled sports pages in recent days.

The management of the attacker’s minutes is strictly part of a physical workload strategy. The coach justified his decision by explaining that the ideal plan was for him to play only part of the second half: "Maybe without tomorrow’s match, the situation would have been different. But nothing more."

Finally, Arbeloa made it clear that although he prefers dressing-room conversations to stay private, he does not feel hurt by the striker’s words. "When I speak in private, I like it to stay private, but I don’t mind it being discussed," he concluded quite naturally.

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

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