Real Madrid Fans Turn on Vinicius and Bellingham Amid Xabi Alonso Exit

Alonso’s short-term successor, Álvaro Arbeloa, was summoned up from the reserve team and promptly began with a 3-2 Copa del Rey defeat away to Albacete, a club at the wrong end of the second division. So a measure of scorn had been expected for the home La Liga fixture against Levante, though this was an early afternoon kick-off, when crowds tend to be more sedate. A few thought to activate their decibel gauges, the tool used by grumpy residents of apartments around the Bernabéu to support complaints about the noise from rock concerts there. All of sudden, when the PA announced Vinícius Jr’s name before kick-off, the dials jumped as if it were an AC/DC gig. There was a medley of opprobrium. Jude Bellingham got shriller whistles than most. It’s been a brutal journey for him: 80,000-strong serenades of Hey Jude one day, targeted in an episode of Hunt the Judas another. Nobody audibly chanted Alonso’s name, but the message here was that a large number of madridistas have it that the sacked coach, a decorated former Real player and young manager, had been undermined, betrayed by certain players and the institution that hired and quickly fired him. The breach between Vinícius and Alonso has a clear reference point, a surly reaction by the winger upon being substituted during October’s home win over Barcelona. Vinícius later said sorry for his petulance, excluding Alonso from the apology. Federico Valverde drew loud whistles, payback for a public grump at Alonso for playing him at right back rather than in midfield; there was hardly a choice with neither Dani Carvajal nor Trent Alexander-Arnold, the specialists, available. As for the whistling of Bellingham, it is anchored less in a specific incident and more in the on-the-field gestures that tend to make him look dismissive of colleagues who may have misplaced a pass, and the fact that his form easily reads as a barometer of falling Real standards over the past 18 months. The Bellingham who was 20 years old and contributor of 23 goals and 11 assists to the league and European Cup double of 2023-24 was always a hard act to follow. His impact since has reduced and Real have won no more major trophies. For Ancelotti, it was an uncomfortable day, watching a drab first half and listening to the hounding of Vinícius, whose goals won two Champions League finals on Ancelotti’s watch, and some jeering of Bellingham, whose dream first season Ancelotti oversaw. For the Italian, preparing Brazil for the World Cup, Vinícius’s state of wellbeing remains a professional concern. He knows better than anybody that the player putting his hands to his face when his name was being derided and then marching off as soon as the final whistle blew on Real’s scratchy 2-0 win is not a thriving Viní Jr. Before another Bernabeú date on Tuesday, against Monaco in the Champions League, Vinícius is Arbeloa’s pressing issue. “It’s up to me to get the best out of him,” the new coach said. “I’ll be telling his team-mates to pass to him as much as possible because he’s the most effective player in the world at taking people on in a duel. He will be winning us more titles, as he has before.” To Arbeloa, the sporadic chants against the president, Florentino Pérez, came “from people who don’t love Real Madrid”. It has been a while since Pérez was exposed to such direct ire. For the best part of a quarter of century he has been the galvaniser of the most successful Champions League club of the era and the driver of some inspired signings. None of last summer’s recruits yet look to have reached that category. After 17 changes of head coach, it can be hard to know what Pérez looks for in a manager. Sometimes a strong Real past is a factor: Zinédine Zidane brought that to his two successful stints; Rafa Benítez , a former Real youth player and coach, and Alonso brought it to their very brief spells. Sometimes pedigree counts most. José Mourinho and Ancelotti both had that even if they appeared to share little in their approaches. Arbeloa is a novice in senior coaching, but played for Real under Mourinho and, like Zidane, has been hastened to the Bernabéu touchline direct from Castilla, the club’s feeder squad. His dreadful start — a cup humiliation followed by a bland first 45 minutes in La Liga played out to a venomous soundtrack from the stands — was soothed once, at half-time against Levante, he drew directly from the Alonso manual, bringing Arda Guler off the bench and asking the Turkey international, as his predecessor used to, to act as midfield playmaker. Guler was soon inviting Kylian Mbappé to chase a pass into the Levante penalty area, earning a penalty the France captain converted. That is 30 Real goals this season already for Mbappé. Guler then clocked up his tenth assist of the campaign, his cross met by Raúl Asencio’s header. With that, the sceptics at last had something to cheer, a hero among the villains. Asencio, a Castilla graduate, had been conspicuously spared any whistling. Mbappé was relatively immune, too, being so evidently the best route for Real to maintain a competitive domestic title race and, less likely, a long run in the Champions League. Beyond that, Arbeloa must find ways of disguising a lack of steel in central midfield, restoring the sapped confidence of the €70million Dean Huijsen at centre back and, in time, applying his own experience of playing at right back for Real and Liverpool to coax from Trent Alexander-Arnold, injured since early December, some performances the Bernabéu can at least judge the Englishman on. The mood now may be splenetic but it would be a good time for somebody to come in fresh, make an impact and change the soundtrack.