Alvaro Arbeloa’s undying love for Jose Mourinho has put him in hot water at Real Madrid.
While the rookie coach’s results and performances haven’t been great, his press conferences have certainly been entertaining, until now.
Speaking ahead of the second leg of their Champions League play-off tie against Benfica, Arbeloa was asked about Mourinho’s infamous comments after the first leg.
After Gianluca Prestianni was accused of racism by Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe, Mourinho suggested the player had to take some of the blame for provoking the crowd.
Asked about Mourinho’s response, Arbeloa was slightly timid: “What I think is the same as what I said last week… I think Vini scored a very beautiful goal and that nothing he does justifies an act of racism.”
Such a reply hasn’t landed well in Spain, with prominent Cadena SER duo Manu Carreño and Antonio Romero laying into the coach.
“We haven’t even gotten a single word out of Arbeloa about Mourinho,” said Romero after the press conference.
“It’s one thing to not criticise him at all, and another thing entirely to actually look annoyed because we ask him about it.
“You’re the spokesperson for Real Madrid, and I think you had an obligation to defend Vinicius by criticising Mourinho.”
Carreño added: “He could have said that he’s friends with Mourinho, and that he’ll continue to be, but that he was wrong.
“Because let me tell you something, I don’t know if UEFA will be able to prove that Prestianni called Vinicius a ‘monkey’. I don’t think they’ll have any proof.
“What can be proven, though, is that Mourinho blamed Vinicius for his celebration, understanding it as a provocation and that’s why what happened, happened. That can be proven, and I think it’s outrageous.”
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