Arbeloa insists “if any team can win in Munich, it’s Real Madrid” after first leg loss | OneFootball

Álvaro Arbeloa insisted that Real Madrid’s hopes of progressing to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals are still well and truly alive, despite suffering a 1-2 defeat to Bayern Munich at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu on Tuesday.

Luis Diaz and Serge Gnabry netted either side of the break in the Spanish capital, and while Kylian Mbappé was able to halve the deficit late in the second half, los Blancos couldn’t quite draw level ahead of next week’s trip to Germany.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Arbeloa admitted that “it is a defeat that perhaps we could have avoided with a little bit more luck in the second half.

“We came up against a great team and we knew that. We made two errors, lost possession twice – and we’d spoken about that before the game and during the break that we had to avoid that. Against this kind of team, if you make mistakes, you pay for them.

“It is clear that we’ve scored a goal that has given us hope, and the unfortunate thing is that we couldn’t put away another of the opportunities we had. It won’t be easy, but if any team can win in Munich, it’s Real Madrid,” the Spaniard continued, emphasising that his side “have showed that we can do them damage”.

Arbeloa, who took charge of Real Madrid in January, assured fans that his side “will learn a lot” from Tuesday’s defeat, and suggested that “anyone who doesn’t believe can stay in Madrid, because we’re going with everything to get the win in Germany” next week.

The second leg gets underway at 20:00 BST on Wednesday 15 April at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena.