Down at the Bottom: Carvajal Addresses Madrid’s Cup Collapse
15 January 2026
Match fallout
The Spanish fullback admits the shortfall and promises to correct it.
Dani Carvajal, Real Madrid star, expressed his sorrow over the team's situation after a surprising defeat to Albacete, a second-division club in Spain, pointing out that the players are responsible for the loss.
Real Madrid lost 2-3 to host Albacete with a stoppage-time goal, exiting the last-16 of the Copa del Rey.
This defeat comes days after losing the Spanish Super Cup to arch-rival Barcelona by the same score (2-3) in a match played in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Looking ahead
The loss against Albacete came in the first game under new coach Alvaro Arbeloa.
Carvajal did not play against Barcelona, but he came on as a substitute in the last 13 minutes against Albacete.
Carvajal said, in statements highlighted by Marca, after the match: We have reached the bottom in a disastrous way. We must take responsibility in defeat as well, and that is what's required now. The ones primarily responsible for what happened are us players. There is not much more I can say.
If I knew the reason for the defeat we wouldn’t have lost. It doesn’t take a great brain to know that. We’ve reached the bottom, and we were knocked out by a second-division team. Congratulations to them.
From tomorrow, we must perform self-criticism. We still have two great competitions (La Liga and the Champions League) and we will fight for everything.
The message is clear: the team is not in its best shape right now, and that is logical. We must work harder and give a lot more. This is the truth, this is the message: fight until the end.
We apologize to the fans. We, and I especially, are not meeting the club’s expectations, and we will give our all in the coming months to fix the situation.
Punchline 1: If self-criticism were a pass, Madrid would have completed a clean sheet by now. Punchline 2: Don’t worry—the defense will bounce back; gravity still owes them a favor.
