\n Real Madrid boss Alvaro Arbeloa backed star striker Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 to answer his critics with a match-winning display against Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday night at the Santiago Bernabeu. <\/p>\n
Issued on: 07\/04\/2026 – 19:19<\/p>\n
2 min Reading time\n<\/p>\n
Madrid go into the clash <\/a>on the back of a 2-1 defeat at relegation-threatened Mallorca on Saturday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n The setback came in Mbapp\u00e9’s<\/a> first match for Real Madrid after a month on the sidelines with a knee injury.<\/p>\n Coupled with the 2-1 win of pacesetters Barcelona at Atletico Madrid, Arbeloa’s side lie seven points behind in second place with eight games remaining of the 2025\/26 La Liga season.<\/p>\n Bayern meanwhile scored three times in the last 20 minutes to beat Freiburg 3-2 to maintain a nine-point advantage at the top of the German Bundesliga.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not thinking about not winning the match,\u201d said Arbeloa on the eve of the game against Bayern.<\/p>\n Champions League: Mbapp\u00e9 leads backing for race row Madrid teammate Vinicius<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cTo win a football match, there are many things you need to do well \u2013 have a complete team, have that defensive mindset.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cI expect a Madrid team that has always stepped up to the challenge against a great rival who will demand a lot of work from us,” he added.<\/p>\n Mbapp\u00e9,<\/a> 27, came under fire for his lack of defensive involvement during the game against Mallorca.<\/p>\n \u201cMbapp\u00e9 is very good, but he hasn\u2019t understood Real Madrid.\u201d said Josep Pedrerol, host of the show El Chiringuito\u00a0after the defeat.<\/p>\n “The Mbapp\u00e9 Football Club is very good, but I don\u2019t think he understands Real Madrid, what Madrid is.”<\/p>\n Lens criticise decision to postpone game before PSG Champions League clash<\/a><\/p>\n Arbeloa, who took over from Xabi Alonso in January, rejected criticism of a player who joined Madrid after seven prolific seasons at Paris Saint-Germain.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cKylian knows what it means to play at Real Madrid. When he was growing up, he dreamed <\/a>of being a Real Madrid player. We\u2019re lucky to have him. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a coach in the world who wouldn\u2019t want him.\u201d<\/p>\n Mbapp\u00e9 has scored 38 goals in 36 games this season for Madrid who have won the Champions League a record nine times since the competition emerged out of the European Cup in 1992.<\/p>\n