JAKARTA - The victory was quite overwhelming by beating Manchester City 3-0 in the Champions League did not make Real Madrid complacent. Main player Kylian Mbappe will be brought down after recovering from an injury which showed coach Alvaro Arbeloa still preparing the best squad in the second leg of the 16th round.
Without Mbappe who is still injured, Madrid was able to show the best performance when hosting Man City at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Wednesday, March 11, 2026 early morning WIB.
However, no one expected Madrid to win with a fairly large score through Federico Valverde's hat-trick. In fact, Los Merengues should have won 4-0 if Vinicius Junior's penalty was not saved by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The victory was actually a good capital for Madrid when visiting Man City's headquarters at the Etihad in the second match, Wednesday, March 18, 2026 WIB. This is because the Spanish LaLiga giant only needs a draw to qualify for the quarter finals.
The chances of qualifying are quite open because Man City has to catch up with the goal deficit. However, Arbeloa does not want players to be lazy. They still fight to maintain the lead. In fact, Arbeloa has prepared Mbappe for the decisive match.
The captain of the French national team has actually missed the last four matches due to a knee injury he suffered in December 2025.
Even though he has recovered, Arbeloa is in no hurry to bring Mbappe down in the big Champions League match. Even the former Paris Saint-Germain star still did not appear when facing Elche in the LaLiga competition this weekend.
"His condition is improving. His recovery process is faster than expected. We have indeed drafted a plan for him. But this depends on how his progress goes," Arbeloa said as quoted by Football Espana.
"The development is going well. However, he was not played for the match tomorrow. However, I am sure he can go to Manchester," he said again.
Arbeloa seems to be preparing Mbappe to fight Man City. He also has not confirmed whether Mbappe will be brought down when facing Atletico Madrid in the Madrid Derby after the match against The Cityzens.
"You're asking me to go too far. I certainly want him to come to Manchester. But we'll see how he is first. On Sunday, we'll make the final decision. He himself has no problem," said Arbeloa.
After beating Man City, Arbeloa did not want the players to get carried away in the euphoria. According to him, Los Blancos must focus when hosting Elche, Sunday morning WIB. This is because Madrid is still four points behind the leader of the standings Barcelona so that they target a victory to reduce the point gap.
"This is a difficult match. You have to play to your own standards to face an opponent who has high motivation when playing against us. Elche is certainly different from the previous match," said Arbeloa.
"This is a natural thing. This is the hard part of being a Madrid player if you don't have a winning mentality. We have to try hard to win. There is no doubt or forgiveness if you don't play with high spirits in this match," he said.
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