Real Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa appeared in a press conference following the 4-2 defeat against Benfica in the last round of the Champions League group stage, at the Estádio da Luz.

In his statement, the coach said: "I do not regret any message I delivered because it reflects what I believe in. If your conclusion is that today's match was like this because the front players did not run enough, I completely disagree with you."

He added: "Clearly, today we were far from where we wanted to be, far from the difficulty of the match, from the opponent's requirements, from the atmosphere, and from what they were playing for, and what we were playing for. I think we weren't able to rise to the level we needed throughout the 90 minutes."

He continued: "Before we came here, we knew we had a lot of work ahead of us, a lot to improve, and we are fully aware that there is still a lot to be done. To win this type of match, you have to do many things right, not just one thing, and you have to do them for the full 90 minutes."

He went on: "It's not the first time a goalkeeper has scored in my net. Naturally, they had to take risks, and we were playing with fewer players, and we also needed to score a goal to be among the top eight. They took the risk, and so did we, and in the end, they won."

Regarding Benfica's performance and the final embrace with Mourinho: "It didn't surprise me at all. I said yesterday in this conference room and in various interviews I conducted that the match requirements would be very high. I knew exactly the level of the opponent, the atmosphere that would be, and the coach who would be on the opposite side. I told the players, but clearly, I couldn't convey what I wanted them to do on the field. When things don't go as they should, and when the team is far from the level we presented, for example, in Villarreal, the responsibility is always and absolutely mine, because I couldn't make the players play the way I wanted. As for the other matter, it remains between me and Mourinho."

He emphasized: "I just said it, I don't know if you listened to me. I am responsible for the defeat, just as I was responsible for it in Albacete. I don't know if you attended these two press conferences, but I said it and I repeat it: I feel fully responsible when things don't go well and the goal we aspired to isn't achieved. We haven't been eliminated from the Champions League. We still have two matches ahead of us, and we will play them with the aim of qualifying for the next round."

Regarding the participation of Cistero at the expense of Ceballos: "It was a technical decision. We needed the substitutions because we didn't want the situation that happened with Raul to repeat. Everyone had cards. Álvaro had a card, Dean had a card, Raul had a card, and I wanted to protect the team because I knew that in any attack, they might surpass us and we would have to commit a foul to stop a counterattack, and there was a risk of a red card, in the end, they showed a card to Raul, and that's why the substitutions came. As for Jorge Cistero, I have great confidence in him, full confidence in the player he is, and for the match and how we were, he was very suitable for us. That's it, nothing more, they were purely technical decisions."

He concluded: "We missed a lot of things. It was a Champions League match, at a Champions League level, against a team we knew was playing for its life, needed to win, and was doing so in front of its fans, and not only with intensity but defended very well, attacked very well, and we, as I said earlier, I can't give you just one reason. I think we also missed many football solutions that would have given us the three points, the win in the match, and surpassing Benfica today."