ByTom Sanderson,
Senior Contributor.
Real Madrid head coach Alvaro Arbeloa will meet his maker in the Champions League on Wednesday, when his managerial idol Jose Mourinho returns to the Bernabeu with a Benfica side that still has slim hopes of making the next round.
Sitting in third place in the league phase, Madrid pretty much has knockout phase qualification wrapped up but will want to win in front of its demanding home fans to not possibly drop into the playoff spots while also saving the need to contest extra games in an action-packed calendar.
Madrid’s fate in the competition was decided by the fired Xabi Alonso, who also played under Mourinho with Arbeloa in the early 2010s, yet a 6-1 win over Kylian Mbappe’s former club AS Monaco last week left Los Blancos fans daring to dream of a record 16th crown in the competition.
