Kylian Mbappe, Arbeloa criticise Real Madrid players after Benfica defeat: 'This is not a champion team'

Real Madrid’s star player Kylian Mbappe and manager Alvaro Arbeloa slammed their teammates and players after a shocking 4-2 defeat to Jose Mourinho’s Benfica in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. The embarrassing defeat in Lisbon stopped Real Madrid from directly qualifying for the last-16.

Mbappe scored twice in the match for Real Madrid, but found no support from other players as goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scored the final goal for Benfica in the dying minutes to help them qualify for the Champions League last-16 playoffs.

Mbappe, Arbeloa slam Real Madrid players

Mbappe was so angry with the team’s performance that he ended up admitting that his team is not playing like a “champion” side.

“I have no clear explanation," Mbappe said. “We don’t have continuity in the game, it’s a problem that we have to solve. We can’t be there every other day, this is not a champion team. It hurts a bit because we wanted to have February to improve, but we deserve the position we are in.

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“We played terrible… Then losing 3-2, the fourth goal doesn’t change anything, it’s a bit embarrassing, but it doesn’t change anything. Last week we played good games, but not now and we have to have continuity. We lack a little bit of everything. I’m not going to say that it’s just a problem of attitude or only of football, I think it’s a general issue and in the Champions League every detail is important. If you don’t come with everything to win a game…”

Mbappé just torched his own team: “We’re not a champion team… we deserve where we are.” 😳🔥

🎥📹: elchiringuitotv #Mbappe #madrid #realmadrid #champions pic.twitter.com/DMCQuYRkx3

— MARCA in English 🇺🇸 (@MARCAinENGLISH) January 29, 2026

Arbeloa accused his players of failing to rise to the occasion as his short tenure at Madrid went from bad to worse.

“Of course we are far from happy. Quite the contrary,” Arbeloa said. “In a match where we knew what was at stake, we simply didn’t rise to the occasion.

“I’d like to tell you that it was just one thing that led to this defeat, but I think there were many aspects – adversity in duels, issues with the ball and without the ball. We were a long way from the version of ourselves that we should be.”