Alvaro Arbeloa said the quiet part out loud about Real Madrid’s La Liga troubles

Real Madrid head coach Alvaro Arbeloa spoke about their inability to win La Liga titles as easily, for a lack of a better word, as winning the Champions League in recent years.

Real Madrid, in the last 20 years, have won six Champions League titles, and only seven league titles – assuming the one this season is already lost.

It is as clear as day that Real Madrid always focus on the Champions League a bit more than they do on La Liga or the Copa Del Rey.

Obviously, ideally they would want to win both – which they have done the last two times they have won the Champions League – but these league titles have been really scarce, and it is unclear why.

Arbeloa spoke about this in the presser before Real Madrid’s game against Alaves on Tuesday, and said the part that many more people should discuss.

Alvaro Arbeloa said the quiet part out loud about Real Madrid’s La Liga troubles
He said: “Real Madrid have won seven of the last 20 La Liga titles, is there an explanation? We’d find one, and it’s easy for many to see. Regarding our performance, we certainly have room for improvement in La Liga these past few years.

“I think we’ve performed better in the big matches these past few months than against less established opponents.

“If we’re talking about these last three months, we have plenty of room for improvement. But we’ve also experienced situations like the Girona game that make it easier for Real Madrid to win a Champions League than a La Liga title.”

It is clear that for Real Madrid specifically, it is difficult to win the league titles at times. It is a longer season, of course, but that is not really the reason for them to not win it. They have won it 33 times for a reason.

However, especially as of late, they have found more motivation going into Champions League games than they have in La Liga, and that is basically down to the mentality at the club.

These players simply value the Champions League more than they do La Liga, especially considering the history of the club in the competition.

It is also worth noting just how difficult it is for Real Madrid to win La Liga games, but it is not like that for Barcelona, who rattle through these games without much difficulty.

It is not always because they are better than Real Madrid, but it is because they know how much value they put into league titles. There is a huge difference between the number of Champions League titles between the two clubs, but you need to be more consistent and constantly hungry to win every league game, and that is something Real Madrid just do not have at the moment.

These are things that bring you close to perfectionism. Winning every league game, being motivated to do so will give the team some ammo to keep going, and that is something that needs to change.

It is also wroth noting that especially in seasons like this when the squad is clearly not good enough to win the Champions League, the La Liga titles in theory would be easier to achieve because the level of teams is lower – you just have to be more consistent against those teams.

They do not need to only focus on the league or the Champions League. They can do both.