Overview
- Real Madrid crashed out of the Copa del Rey with a 2–3 defeat at second-tier Albacete in Álvaro Arbeloa’s first game in charge, played just a day after his presentation.
- Spanish and international outlets described the debut as a catastrophe, with the BBC calling it “an absolute nightmare” and Spanish press highlighting a broader pattern of decline.
- Gerard Piqué mocked the result during a Kings League broadcast chat with a sarcastic message that quickly went viral, drawing on his long-running feud with Arbeloa.
- Real-aligned streamer DjMaRiio read Piqué’s comment on air and responded with an angry tirade, amplifying the post-match fallout online.
- Analysis in Spain faulted Arbeloa’s heavy rotation and an underperforming bench, noting that goals from Franco Mastantuono and Gonzalo García could not prevent the upset.