Real Madrid manager Álvaro Arbeloa has confirmed that the race for the La Liga title has become tougher following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Mallorca in Matchday 30 of La Liga, leaving Los Blancos four points behind leaders Barcelona, although the latter have played one game fewer.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Arbeloa commented on the state of the title race, saying: “Well, it’s clear that things have become more difficult than they were before the match began. We have eight rounds left, and essentially this is what I told the players: regardless of the league situation, or the gap that may separate us from Barcelona, our next goal is to win the remaining matches.”
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He added, explaining the upcoming challenges: “To do that, we have to play better than we did today and perform at a much higher level. We are fully aware of that, and of course everything has become more difficult, because the number of remaining matches is dwindling, and the gap may widen tonight, but our goal must remain the same: to win all our upcoming matches.”
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On the lack of a response in the second half and the failure to press in the opposition’s penalty area, Arbeloa said: “Yes, certainly… Perhaps it was down to the context of the match: the anxiety of seeing the team trailing, and the patience we had to show... We knew it would be more difficult, and that we’d be facing Mallorca in a comfortable position for them, where they’d close down the spaces more and have more energy thanks to their lead.”
He continued: "Perhaps we lacked that patience; we didn’t put into practice what we’d trained for during the week, and we weren’t able to move the ball around or create one-on-one situations on the wings… We were lacking in a lot of areas in the second half... As I said, I think we played a much better first half than the second, although we needed more energy and clarity of thought in the second half.”
Regarding the difficulties he had anticipated before the match, Arbeloa said: “As I always tell you, for me it’s very easy to see the difficulty of the match, the difficulty of the opponent, and the difficulty of the context we came from... For me, seeing that is simple... but the tricky bit is getting the players to understand, in this situation, that without giving 200% today, we wouldn’t have won.”