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Arbeloa already under immense pressure after nightmare debut at Real Madrid

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Álvaro Arbeloa tried to leave his mark on Real Madrid in his first game in charge.

He got burned.

A Madrid with youngsters who played for Arbeloa on Madrid’s reserve team crashed out of the Copa del Rey round of 16 to second-division Albacete 3-2 on Wednesday.

Arbeloa was promoted from within on Monday to replace the fired Xabi Alonso and, following his nightmare debut, Thursday’s front page of Spanish sports daily Marca read “Total Debacle” over a photo of a despondent-looking Arbeloa.

If anyone should know the dangers of underestimating the pitfalls of the Copa del Rey, it should be Arbeloa.

While he won multiple titles with Madrid as a hard-working right back, he was also part of one of the worst defeats in the club’s glorious history, 4-0 to third-tier Alcorcón in 2009 that ever since has been known in Spanish sports as the “alcorconazo.”

Now he must revive a team that has yet to win a major title since Kylian Mbappé arrived two summers ago to show its full potential and lift either the La Liga or Champions League trophy. Alonso proved unable to inspire a group that finished last season trophyless under Carlo Ancelotti.

Arbeloa and his players can expect a rough welcome on Saturday from disgruntled Madrid fans when Levante visits in La Liga.

“If anyone is responsible for this defeat it’s me, as I’m the one who made the decisions regarding the lineup, how we wanted to play, the changes,” Arbeloa said after the Albacete defeat. “I’m trying to get them (the players) back on their feet, both physically and mentally. We have to improve and go for Saturday’s game.”

Key matches

Relegation-threatened Levante looks like an easy win for Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. But the same was said of Albacete, which sits in 17th place in the 22-team second-division standings.

Levante also has its reasons to hope for delivering another upset of the reeling giant. The Valencia-based team is unbeaten in three games and its last away game was a 3-0 victory at Sevilla in the debut of coach Luís Castro.

Madrid is in second place, four points behind Barcelona, which visits a Real Sociedad on Sunday that hasn’t lost in two games under American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo.

Third-placed Villarreal is at Real Betis on Saturday. It is four points behind Madrid and a game in hand.

Players to watch

The entire Madrid squad will be under scrutiny against Levante following consecutive defeats to Barcelona in the final of the Spanish Super Cup, which was Alonso’s last game, and Albacete.

But all eyes also will be on Arbeloa’s decision making. He left star Jude Bellingham, regular starter Aurélien Tchouaméni and forward Rodrygo entirely off his squad for the Albacete game and included only heavyweights Vinícius Júnior and Federico Valverde in his starting lineup.

So it would be a surprise not to see Bellingham and Tchouaméni return to the midfield and Thibaut Courtois back in goal at kickoff on Saturday.

Out of action

Mbappé was ruled unavailable for the Albacete match as he tries to fully recover from a left knee sprain. The league top scorer has made only one brief appearance – the final 15 minutes against Barcelona – while otherwise missed three games for Madrid already this month. It is not known if he will be ready to go against Levante.

Off the field

Speaking after his team’s embarrassing loss, Arbeloa said the team he inherited from Alonso was far from top form.

“Physically, we have a lot of room for improvement and that’s what (trainer) Antonio (Pintus) is there for, to give us something extra,” he said. “We need to get back to our best footballing form for me and physically for Antonio, which I think we need.”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Ryan Fox wins first career major at 2026 Open Championship

CNN
(CNN) — Ryan Fox took home the Claret Jug after draining a birdie putt on the 18th hole to win the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on Sunday.The 39-year-old Fox beat out American Cameron Young to win his first career major title, becoming only the third New Zealander to win a men’s major golf championship.Fox came into the final hole tied with Young, after the 29-year-old finished the round at 6-under 64 a few hours before.The Kiwi powered his drive into the middle of the fairway and then set up the biggest putt of his golf career so far with an approach shot that landed about 12 feet from the pin.As the putt fell into the hole, the crowd in Southport, England, gave Fox a rousing ovation as he raised both arms in the air to celebrate the achievement.The putt capped off four birdies in the last six holes for Fox.Fox was at a loss for words while speaking to the NBC Sports broadcast after the win.“I don’t really know what to think at the moment. I’ve got a lot of people to thank. First of all, my family. My wife and kids are in Florida at the moment. I spoke to my kids last night and they said, bring back a trophy. I think that’s a pretty cool one to bring back for them,” Fox said. “My family back in New Zealand and all my supporters back there. I know it’s been a long night for them, but I’m glad it was worthwhile.”Fox finished with a 2-under 68 after trailing Sam Burns, who held a two-stroke lead coming into Sunday’s final round.Fox also becomes the third-oldest major winner in the last 10 years, trailing only Phil Mickelson at the 2021 PGA Championship and Tiger Woods at the 2019 Masters.“Just an unbelievable week. The golf course was fantastic. The English weather was fantastic. You guys out there were fantastic. The support was amazing. This is pretty cool. I’m sorry if I’ve forgotten anyone, but thank you very much,” Fox added.It is another disappointment for Young, who is still looking for his first career major title despite winning The Players earlier this year. Young finished one shot back of the win at the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews and held the lead heading into the final round at the Masters back in April.It is also another let down for Burns, another golfer looking for his maiden major win.The Louisiana State University alum came into the round ahead by two strokes but quickly lost it and went birdie-free for the final 12 holes.“(Fox) is a well-earned champion and hats off to him,” Burns said. “He did what he needed to do down the stretch and ultimately just came up a couple short today.”Defending champion Scottie Scheffler stayed within striking range throughout the round, but wound up with a 3-under 67 on Sunday to finish tied for fourth with Tommy Fleetwood.After a drama-filled tournament, Bryson DeChambeau finished tied for 14th while Rory McIlroy, who has been critical of the LIV Golfer all tournament long, ended tied for 40th.Fox’s journey to first major winFox’s road to his first career major title wasn’t the easiest. It came with many bumps and U-turns.While speaking to CNN’s Don Riddell ahead of the Desert Classic in Dubai in early 2025, Fox opened up about his mental health issues, including being an older rookie after spending years on the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour of Australia.“I think being a rookie at 37 years old on the PGA Tour was, I probably wasn’t quite prepared for what that was again,” Fox told CNN.“I knew all the golf courses, knew how to travel work, knew where to stay, and everything was new on the PGA Tour, and that was probably a shock to the system more than anything.”Fox comes from a lineage of athletes within his family tree, including his father, Grant Fox, who was a main kicker for the New Zealand national rugby team and his grandfather, Merv Wallace, a former New Zealand cricketer who later coached the national team.Fox spoke out on the “pressure” a golfer faces, mentioning the 2024 death of former PGA Tour golfer Grayson Murray, whose parents later confirmed it was death by suicide.“It can be a stressful life. It’s all performance-based. There’s a lot of pressure on – Looking after your mental health is really, really important, and having people to talk to and all of that is part of that,” Fox said.“It’s a shame it got to that point with Grayson that, you know, we’ve had to have those, those pretty tough conversations now, but it will help – hopefully it helps someone else in a similar situation going forward because we certainly don’t want to see it again.”CNN’s Kyle Tatelbaum and Don Riddell contributed to this reporting This write has been updated with additional reporting The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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