The loss to Barcelona in the final of the Spanish Super Cup led to the dismissal of Xabi Alonso as head coach of Real Madrid. In his place, Alvaro Arbeloa was appointed on an interim basis and unveiled his first squad list without Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham.
This Wednesday, Los Blancos will face Albacete in the Round of 16 of the Copa del Rey, and they will do so with a depleted roster. To begin with, six players are unavailable due to fitness issues: Mbappe, Rodrygo Goes, Antonio Rudiger, Eder Militao, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ferland Mendy.
Mbappe’s situation is the most notable. He had been sidelined at the start of the year due to a knee injury that kept him out of matches against Real Betis in La Liga and Atletico Madrid in the semifinals of the Spanish Super Cup. However, his recovery process was accelerated so he could be available against Barcelona on Sunday.
After playing 20 minutes in the 3-2 defeat in the Spanish Super Cup final, the French forward will now be rested again to ensure a full recovery and allow him to handle the second half of the season without setbacks. As a result, he will not feature against Albacete.
Alvaro Arbeloa, Head Coach of Real Madrid, attends to the media on a press conference.
Bellingham also out of the Copa del Rey
Beyond the injury-related absences, Alvaro Arbeloa also decided to leave four additional Real Madrid players out of Wednesday’s Copa del Rey match. Jude Bellingham, Thibaut Courtois, Alvaro Carreras and Aurelien Tchouameni all remained in Madrid and did not travel with the rest of the squad for the match against Albacete.
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Arbeloa’s decision is tied to giving rest to some of his most important players, taking advantage of the fact that the opponent is of a lower level — Albacete compete in Spain’s second division — while also creating opportunities for young academy players.
As a result, seven youth players were called up, all of whom Arbeloa knows well from his time coaching Real Madrid Castilla in Spain’s third division. They are goalkeepers Fran Gonzalez and Sergio Mestre, defenders Joan Martinez and David Jimenez, and midfielders Manuel Angel, Cesar Palacios and Jorge Cestero.
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Based on those decisions, Real Madrid’s projected starting lineup to face Albacete this Wednesday in the Copa del Rey is: Andriy Lunin; Daniel Carvajal, Raul Asencio, Dean Huijsen, Fran Garcia; Federico Valverde, Dani Ceballos, Eduardo Camavinga; Arda Guler, Gonzalo Garcia, Vinicius Junior.
