Alvaro Arbeloa, Real Madrid coach, spoke to the media in the press conference hall at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, following the 2-1 loss against Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.

Arbeloa said: "This is a loss we might have avoided in the second half with a bit of luck. We faced a very big team, and we knew that. We made two passing mistakes, which are ball losses we talked about before the match and during the halftime break, and we said they should be avoided, especially being ready to close spaces quickly if they occur. Against such teams, if you make such mistakes, you pay the price. That's what happened. Clearly, we scored a goal that gave us hope, but unfortunately, we didn't capitalize on some of the chances we had. It won't be easy, but if there's a team capable of winning in Munich, it's Real Madrid."

He added: "We showed that we are capable of hurting them and scoring goals. We had enough chances to score at least another goal. We will learn a lot from what happened and from the way they played. We came to this encounter almost without being able to prepare for it adequately on the field, and this is not easy for a team like us that doesn't have the same cohesion as Bayern Munich, who have been working with their coach for a long time and know well what he wants. But with this confidence in our players, we will go to Germany. Those who don't believe in the possibility of qualifying can stay in Madrid, because we will go there to win."

Regarding what he holds on to before the second leg, he said: "I hold on to my players. When the score was 2-1, there were moments when we tried to equalize very quickly, and we should have been calmer because conceding a third goal would have made the task much harder. But I also admire my team's ambition and their unwillingness to lose, especially as we play at home and continue to attack. It's unfortunate we didn't take advantage of some opportunities. I have great confidence in our ability to go to Germany and achieve victory."

He talked about Aurelien Tchouameni's absence from the second leg, saying: "We will have time to think about who will participate, we have good alternatives. Clearly, it's an important loss due to a yellow card, which I don't understand what the referee saw in it, and I also don't understand why he didn't issue a red card in the incident where Mbappe was tackled. There are things sometimes that cannot be understood, but this is the reality, and we will go to Munich in this situation."

He continued: "We talked at the break that when you regain the ball after a minute or two without possessing it, and at moments when players are tired, there should be options for the ball holder. Because if you lose it again, you enter a cycle of continuous defense, which is not easy, and I told the players that because they press very hard. But we need when we regain the ball for players to move and ask for it and want to keep it and maintain it until they get a foul or relieve the pressure. We need to make them retreat and rest with the ball and play boldly and threaten them. We did that better in the second half, and that was one of the reasons for the improved performance."

Regarding Jude Bellingham's performance, he said: "He's a player who has been absent for a long time due to injury. Not because I want to keep him on the bench. Everyone knows the confidence I have in him. We talked a lot about how he gradually returns and regains his best levels. This is normal. I wish I could rely on Bellingham for 90 minutes in every match since I became a coach. He has given us a lot because he is a player capable of overcoming the strong pressure imposed by Bayern Munich, and he can advance with the ball and surpass opponents. I am very happy with the energy he showed and his personality and leadership spirit. I see him now in a much better condition, and he will have an important role in the Munich match."

Regarding Bayern Munich's goals, he said: "99% of goals come as a result of mistakes, often not just one mistake but several. These were situations we talked about beforehand. When you try to get out with the ball from your field, the opponent presses you hard, so you have to be careful because losing the ball is possible. You have to be ready to close spaces quickly and not have too many players in front of the ball but behind it because if the opposite happens, what happened to us will happen. We lost the ball and didn't have enough players to close the space. Often the problem is not losing the ball because you will lose it against such teams, but how you react after losing it and your positioning on the field. When you are too advanced and lose the ball in the build-up process, what happened occurs, and you concede goals."

Regarding Kylian Mbappe's performance: "I saw Mbappe very committed to all tasks and capable of making a difference, and being the best player in the world and a constant threat to Bayern Munich's defenders. This is the Mbappe we want to see, a player who wants to be Mbappe every day."

Regarding the modest performance of Carreras: "He was facing one of the best players in the world (Oles), a winger having an exceptional season, and it's not easy to play against a player of this level. My confidence in Alvaro Carreras is still complete. He is a great player with a promising future and a strong present. He will learn from today's match, and this is the challenge for any full-back. We who have played in this position know that facing this type of player is not easy, and you always need help from your teammates to stop them, especially when they play with the opposite foot and can move inside or outside. He is a very fast and talented player, so facing him is not easy."

Regarding Manuel Neuer's brilliance: "This gives us evidence that we are capable of hurting Bayern Munich. It won't be easy in front of their fans, but as I said earlier, if there's a team capable of winning in Munich, it's Real Madrid."

He concluded about the psychological preparation for the second leg, saying: "It's not about the psychological aspect but the football aspect. We will work on how to hurt them and how to defend against the offensive situations they created. We have days to prepare well, and we will focus on that. Psychologically, I am not worried because I have players with strong personalities, and the first thing they said after the match is that we will go there to win. They are convinced of that, and so am I. We will go for victory, we are Real Madrid, and we fear no one. We know the difficulty of the opponent, the stadium, and the atmosphere, but we will go to win."