With fine dark hair, skinny as a fit bullfighter (four kilos less than when he was a professional) and a backpack with books on his back. Lavro Arbelloa (39) rushes through the week of the Champions League final, completing the agenda with difficulty: training sessions with a cadet from the white youth academy he directs, acting as ambassador with the club and last The coaching course that he completes is the headquarters of the Federation, in Las Rojas where he receives El Mundo to interview. Among so many professions, there isn’t much. “If you want, we’ll sit here on the stairs.”

The one who was the winger of the best Spanish team in history is, above all, representative of an important era for Real Madrid to understand today. 10 years ago, with Mourinho on the bench, lived the germs of a champion dynasty that still has a new European Cup 90 minutes away without its first reference (Cristiano Ronaldo). Take a trip to Paris on Friday with the club’s official jacket.

How are you doing with your studies?

With this, I completed the coaching course after two years. There is talk that footballers give us licence… whoever says so, I will bring it here. It’s harder than I thought. The last generation took it out in just one year and they doubled it for us. With this you can train at any level.

You were headed to the club for managerial work, but suddenly you put your shoes back on to become a coach.

This has been circumstantial. I was in Madrid as an ambassador, an aspect that I still enjoy and that helps me get to know the club from within, things you don’t even know as a player. My focus was on that work, but these courses have come to the fore for former professional players. In the first one, in which Ral or Xabi Alonso was present, I could not enter because they were too inflexible with the absence. That I couldn’t miss a single day of class, he told me. But I, being an ambassador, take trips, etc… Then I found out that a colleague who went to that course was quite absent… thank god I changed the course of the courses in the Federation and went to the next In promotion I was able to enter. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity of course, to get it, because life takes many turns. And once you get into it, you love it.

What did your family tell you? Being a coach has its risks, its uncertainties…

again without PresentWithout free time, I have four children… My wife is the prime victim of my re-entry into football: schedules, courses, training, trips…

You were a young squad, like the boys you make up now.

They are a very different generation. We were in the street all day and now we have to kick them out to play football. Now they are more secure. And with electronic devices, lifestyles have changed. I tell them not to comment on the mistakes I made, but life teaches you more than the instructors.

Do you know what kind of trainer you are?

I am in the process of training. This has been my first real year of training, since the last one, with Madrid’s Infantil A, between the fact that the team was far better than our rivals and the covids for which we barely competed or played tournaments abroad … Although they are kids and it has nothing to do with professional football. I am a trainer who has started doing.Defensive? Offensive?…. a label? The coach depends on the team he has, that’s what I’ve learned already. You have your own ideas but you have to adapt to the players.

His friend Xabi Alonso is already being dodged.

I was seeing him on the train with him last week. He’s already at the stage where his next move is elite, though I don’t know where he’s headed or if he’ll continue for another year at the Real branch. I see him ready for a club with demanding and professional players.

Let’s go to the Champs. remember. Finals will be a long week, won’t it?

Ticket issue is tough… I changed my state when we reached the final WhatsApp And put: ‘I don’t have a ticket for the final’. It was the craziness, which I’m noticing this year too… You try to do a normal week beyond media day. While there are things that change, of course, for the journey to begin, which is Thursday. But it is better not to overthink, train well and clear your mind with your family in the afternoon.

Does it affect how the weather has gone? Is the pressure less when you’ve already won a title, like in the league in this case?

The team doesn’t care, I’m sure. We didn’t think about it in 2014 or 16. A final is a historic opportunity that you never know when it will return and of course, you want to take advantage of it. One thing that amazed me the most about this group and which I saw in the finals in Kyiv [2018] It was this naturalness with which he plays the important game. Another with a sense of play, and this is very important.

La decima salt la pressin.

Yes, as with the national team with a penalty in the quarter-final against Italy [Eurocopa 2008], It is true that everything is going great since Lisbon. Madrid have played the finals and won them all… One thing, by the way, that makes you swoon… But winning the tenth, marks the beginning of an era that is still alive.

Mbapp’s denial inspired the locker room?

I don’t think it matters, honestly. There is no better motivation for Real Madrid than winning the Champions League. On a professional level, you cannot aspire for too much. Neither it will have an effect nor do I think the players will think of any kind of message.

In an attempt to convince him in one call, what would he have said?

Well, let me remind you that not only the two best teams of the moment but the two best clubs in the world face each other in the finals. They are for history. And neither history can be bought nor dreams can be bought. in my opinion mbpp you are wrong And one day you will realize. It’s hard for me to understand how one can see one’s dream, a childhood dream pass by, and not jump on it.

Has this Madrid surprised you?

It is not surprising if Madrid are in the final. He makes the impossible a habit. Over the summer there were people who talked to you about the transition season… well, look, with a Champions League final on the verge of and the league winning. A great virtue. He faced pressure and doubt.

He played for Liverpool, where the European Cup is also an obsession.

It is as important as it is for Madrid, something special. No English team has its own European history and therefore the Champions League doesn’t mean much to anyone. And it shows up when you arrive. It’s a different, special club, and it’s the closest thing that exists to Real Madrid, saving distances. This is definitely the biggest club in England. In Liverpool you can breathe its history, as in Madrid, whose legend is built around the European Cup. We must remember that if we win on Saturday, we will have twice as many champions as the other team with the most matches (7).

Please put on your coaching suit and take out the blackboard. party keys.

Liverpool are a very recognizable team, with a lot of pressure, suffocating pressure after a loss, with a lot of rhythm. Sometimes they give up numerical parity in defence, as they rely heavily on their central defenders. Madrid will have to prepare for it, lean forward, have a lot of people on them when they recover… with Vinicius and with Benzema. Knowing how to come out of that strong pressure from Liverpool will be important.

They talk about avenging the loser in the 2018 final. Does it have any benefit?

They are parties that have nothing to do with it. It could be a spur or even a slab, as things don’t work out. The way Madrid reached the final could benefit from it. If at any point the qualifying round situations are repeated, such as Madrid drawing after a loss, they may start thinking: ‘be careful, they are coming again’. This can be a plus.

PSG, Chelsea, City… Which night do you choose?

I’ve never experienced anything like this. In addition to the stadium, I do not know if it is due to the roof being closed, it has special, enhanced acoustics. It’s been three crazy nights, especially one in the City. Of course, the trip to Paris, those matches, no one is taking us away now, but the icing on the cake is winning the finals. It’s like playing a video game and after three hours and killing all the monsters, all of a sudden, the final monster comes… it’s exhausting… because after spending so much, the worst monster remains. tough.

was expected Benzema You modric Was it like this in 2022?

I have always loved Karim’s football. If you’re lucky like me, it’s hard not to see him train every morning. It’s unique, but it’s true that what he’s doing this year is unbelievable, at the height of being the best in the world, almost Martian, scoring very complex goals at key moments, while also remaining nine different who he was, with that ability to combine. But now he scores almost one goal per game, something we thought only Cristiano and Messi could do. and of modric What to say His first year was one of adaptation, with that goal as the lever of change against Manchester United. And since then, a steady progress. Without knowing what is left, but he has a rope for a while.

What does Ancelotti have?

Apart from being a phenomenon in wardrobe management, she is something else. He has a lot of experience and knows how to stay calm and send the right message. Then, he organizes his teams defensively and makes it clear to the team what to do. This gives you a lot of freedom in attacking, but it also gives you two or three keys to hurt your opponent’s team. It doesn’t hinder you too much. I hope he does double and continues for a few more years.

Envy of not being in the locker room in a week like this?

i would love to be with you again casemiroWhich will certainly be a fundamental piece against Liverpool, talking about the game, experiencing those sensations, having breakfast with your teammates, being on a day-to-day basis…

10 years ago we were in full swing maurinhismo, a movement that turned football upside down. You were a hero on and off the field. How do you remember that time? Do you have any regrets?

What’s going on, not at all. I did things with a clear conscience to be loyal to my club, my teammates and my coach, which is what a Real Madrid player has to do. I’m also so proud to be able to continue calling friend Jose [Mourinho] To date and continue to maintain contact. Hopefully I can visit him in Rome soon to see his current training method, as I did with Xabi. I remember a lot of people saying: ‘When Mourinho is gone, he will leave it like a piece of land’. Well, look, very blessed Jose left… it’s not taking credit caraletto hey Zidane It is said that the work of the MoU laid the foundation for what we achieved later. We touched the final, it gave us the experience of those moments. He deserved to win the Champions League with Madrid. But a good part of Real Madrid have realized over time the good that Mourinho has done for Madrid.

Now you are another in the social network, very temperamental. Do you have difficulty controlling yourself?

Initially, when I started becoming the ambassador of the club, it was very difficult for me. But there is no other choice, because you speak on behalf of Madrid. Now my family is quiet, but you never know when lvaro Arbelloa might be back…

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