Arbeloa is doing his best to ensure that off-field matters do not become a distraction for Real, as they chase down Barcelona in another thrilling La Liga title race. He has endured the odd shock defeat during his tenure - against Albacete and Benfica - but has overseen three successive victories in La Liga.
He said of the challenges that his side face heading into a clash with Valencia on Sunday: “Great teams have to do a lot of things well to win. We can’t just master one, we have to be able to do many things well on the pitch: we have to be able to do them at the same time, have automatisms, think all the same way… And that can only be achieved by working and putting in hours.
“The predisposition that the players have had is still just as good, with the same desire and the same ambition of the objectives we have ahead of us. Tomorrow is a very complicated and difficult match. This week we’ve been focused on continuing that improvement in all aspects of the game. We are still far from our ceiling.”