Real Madrid’s last match of the season against Athletic Club (4-2) was to be a farewell evening at the Santiago Bernabéu, particularly for several dressing room executives. If Dani Carvajal and David Alaba were in the spotlight in front of the Madrid public, one absence particularly caught the attention: that of Álvaro Arbeloa. The coach, although concerned by this last meeting, did not attend the post-match press conference, immediately fueling questions about the reasons for this discreet departure and against a backdrop of internal tensions accumulated in recent months.
This disappearance comes in an already tense context around several sensitive issues in the Madrid locker room, particularly those of Kylian Mbappé, Dani Carvajal and Dani Ceballos, who has often been dismissed by the Spanish coach. Arbeloa has maintained sometimes complicated relationships with certain executives, like his recent exchanges with Mbappé, despite a scene of appeasement symbolized by a hug after a goal from the Frenchman. The situation of Ceballos, also on a sporting break, and the strong choices made regarding Carvajal complete a climate of uncertainty around a coach whose farewell to the club seems to have been made without any real public clarification.
