Arbeloa: "This match is extremely difficult"

Álvaro Arbeloa spoke in the press room at Benfica's stadium before the final training session ahead of the Champions League matchday eight fixture. The coach analysed the clash against the Lisbon giants: “It's a very important game for us. We want to be in that top eight and we need to get the three points tomorrow against a very big team. Even if they come with the Youth League team, they have the best possible leader. I have warned the players of the difficulty of the game, we 're here with a tremendous amount of humility. If we want to win we're going to have to give our maximum and be very focused. I don't expect anything else from Benfica, who are also playing in front of their own fans in their own stadium. This match is extremely difficult”

“I can talk about what I have seen in the 15 days since I arrived. To me, the group of players is very committed, willing to listen, to work and to do what we have talked about on the pitch, even though there hasn't been much time. I think that's what we're seeing. We have a lot of room for improvement. If we want to aspire to everything we have to do a lot of things and do them well. That takes time, work and training. But I think that, at the moment, there is a lot of merit in what they are doing on the pitch in such a short period of time with a new coach.”

Bellingham
“Since I arrived, I 've watched a player with exceptional quality and conditions. Anyone who has seen him on TV knows that, but up close he is even more surprising. But beyond his footballing quality, I have seen that he wants to be a leader and an example. He is running like nobody's business. The level and the implication he shows in training? I'm very proud to have a player like Bellingham. He can do a lot of things well. He breaks a lot into space, he has a good finish, a great shot, he reads what the game needs. He's young, but at the same time he has a lot of experience. I think he's going to be a cornerstone of this Real Madrid team for many years to come.”

Praise for Mourinho
“I never missed his press conferences as a player and I haven't today. It is a huge source of pride to hear everything he has said about me. Excited and happy because he has been much more than a coach for me at all levels. On a personal level he has been very important throughout my career. I consider him a great friend and I would like to thank him for his words and I look forward to seeing him tomorrow and giving him a hug.”

Is Mourinho a mirror in which you view yourself?
"He is a mirror, of course. I said it on the first day, there will never be anyone like him. Anyone who wants to imitate him is going to fail. My success will be to be myself. Part of being Arbeloa is an influence of Mourinho because of everything I learned from him. Tomorrow we will see each other, in the end the important thing is the 90 minutes. Tomorrow he will want to win the game, I know how competitive he is and so will I."

“We have kept in touch. I know who he is and how he must have his number. You will understand why he changes his number so much. I have tried to ‘bother’ him as little as possible. He's one of those friends you can go a long time without talking to, you call him at 3 o'clock in the morning and he picks up for sure. For me that's the relationship we have. We've kept in touch, but I didn't want to be too much of a nuisance.”

First training session of the season at the opposition's ground
"Xabi was not the only coach who prepares matches at his home ground. We don't know if we will do it in the future. We have that option, but it seemed important to me to come to a stadium that brings back such good memories. To train the day before the match and to feel the importance of these three points and the rival we have in front of us. I think it was good for the players. That's why I decided to do it this way, but I don't think it's any better or worse than the decisions made by other coaches."

Memories of La Décima
“La Séptima was also a key moment in Real Madrid's history. We cannot play down the importance of that Champions League that came after such a long time. La Décima marked the beginning of an era, surely one of the two most important eras in the history of Real Madrid. It began here, in this stadium, in 2014. It can bring us nothing but good memories. Let's hope that tomorrow we go home with another victory.”

Does he like his situation?
“I feel very responsible for the situation I am in. Being in this chair can only be achieved by enjoying it. That's what I try to do, to give the best of myself. Work and do my best to get the best out of the players. There is no other way of doing things. And not only here, but in any area of life when you dedicate yourself to what you like. It has to be something that you enjoy to the maximum knowing that it also takes a lot of dedication and effort. I think the results come like this.”

Connection between forwards
“Relationships on a football pitch and between football players are extremely important and need to be worked on. We are talking about three spectacular football players, probably the most dangerous in the world and very important for our team. But not just the three of them, in other areas we have great players who can work together. We have to know how to work on the relationships between players who we know will be close. I'm sure that with a little more time things will work out better. We will continue to improve in the offensive phase, and I think we can still give much more.”

Idea on Arda Güler
“Right now I can talk about what I'm experiencing. He's a kid with a lot of talent, vision, last pass, great change of direction.... He's a threat that we need to exploit more. He is very young and has a lot of improvement, but he is working very hard. The defensive involvement he has is being great. What we want is to take advantage of the talent he has. He can do it closer to the defenders to help us when they press high, also a little closer to the strikers to give the last pass... In all these situations, he will have to continue to grow and, when the most demanding games come, he will surely help us. As time goes by, he is a football player who is going to be very important at world football level, if he isn't already.”

His most influential coach
“I'm very grateful to all the coaches I've had since I was little. Caparrós was the coach who gave me confidence in Primera División. That confidence led me to Liverpool, where I coincided with Rafa Benítez, who taught me a lot and changed my position. Then I returned to Madrid and I met some great coaches: Pellegrini, Benítez, Ancelotti and Zidane. Then in the national team Luis Aragones, Vicente del Bosque. I have been very lucky because I have had very good coaches, very different from each other, but very successful. That's what football teaches you, that there isn't just one way to achieve victory and lead a group. All of them have been very good leaders with great ideas and football concepts. Sometimes it seems that we want to highlight one coach and underestimate other skills. For me they have all been very complete. Being a coach is not difficult, but it is not an easy task either. It requires doing many things well.”

Would he accept a role as Mourinho assistant?
“I am not usually a person who talks about assumptions. I'm very focused on the present and tomorrow's game. I am focused on getting the maximum out of my football players. It will be a game that I think I will always remember. But if we win, that's what I care about tomorrow.
"Mourinho, talking about the victory 12 years ago in this stadium, that tenth European Cup and everything that came after, he laid the foundations for all of that. A lot of credit to the work that Ancelotti and Zidane did afterwards. But I'm convinced that Mourinho laid the foundations for what came during those years. I'm here to give my opinion, not to convince anyone. That's something that I have in me and I believe that he has always been valued within the club. That's why I think he was, is and will remain one of the best.”