Arbeloa’s Nightmare Debut: Real Madrid Sensationally Knocked Out of the Copa del Rey by Albacete

Álvaro Arbeloa’s journey as head coach of Real Madrid began with a real shock. In his first official match in charge of Los Blancos, the coach suffered a painful defeat: Real Madrid lost 2–3 to Albacete and were eliminated from the Copa del Rey, failing to reach the quarter-finals.

The match at the Carlos Belmonte Stadium turned into a true sensation. The Segunda División side, currently only 17th in Spain’s second tier, achieved a historic victory by knocking out one of the tournament’s main favorites and giving their fans an unforgettable night.

Appointed just a few days earlier, Arbeloa—who replaced Xabi Alonso after the Spanish Super Cup defeat to Barcelona—entered history from an unpleasant angle. He became only the second Real Madrid coach in the last nine appointments to lose his debut match in all official competitions. Previously, this had happened only to Julen Lopetegui in 2018.

Arbeloa tried to surprise with his starting lineup: he trusted young Sestero from Castilla in midfield, actively used squad players, and moved Valverde back into a holding role. However, the experiment failed. Real Madrid looked slow, defensively vulnerable, and regularly lost aerial duels.

The score was opened in the 42nd minute when Villar put Albacete ahead. Just before halftime, Madrid equalized: after a corner kick, Mastantuono reacted quickest to the rebound. In the second half, Real attempted to raise the tempo but failed to apply real pressure.

The key figure of the match was Jefte Betancor. Coming off the bench, the striker struck a spectacular volley in the 82nd minute after an unsuccessful save by Lunin to make it 2–1. In stoppage time, Gonzalo García equalized again from a corner, but the ending was tragic for the visitors. In the 94th minute, Betancor broke away on a counterattack and calmly finished past Lunin for the second time, sealing the final score at 3–2.

The historic win sends Albacete into the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, while Real Madrid continue to sink deeper into crisis. The start of 2026 has been extremely disappointing for Los Blancos, and Arbeloa’s debut risks being remembered as one of the most disastrous in the club’s recent history.