At the end of Álvaro Arbeloa’s news conference following Real Madrid‘s gutsy, gripping 3-2 win over Atlético Madrid in Sunday’s LaLiga derby, there was time for one last question.

It was a simple one. What would you say to those who doubted you? “That they didn’t know the players I had,” Arbeloa replied.

Since taking over from Xabi Alonso in January, Arbeloa has relentlessly shifted the focus on to the players, praising them, and deflecting any credit for Madrid’s turnaround in their general direction.

“I’m lucky to have him,” has been a constant refrain when the coach has been asked about Vinícius Júnior, Federico Valverde, Kylian Mbappé and others. “I’d make a statue of him and put it in my garden,” he said before the derby, when asked about defender Antonio Rüdiger.

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Whether it’s the coach, the players, or both, Madrid have improved since Arbeloa took charge on Jan. 12. Since then, they’ve won 17 of their 21 games in all competitions, losing the other four.

In LaLiga, they’re four points behind leaders Barcelona — the same deficit as when Alonso was sacked — with a potentially decisive Clásico on May 10. In the UEFA Champions League, they will face Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals after eliminating Manchester City 5-1 on aggregate.

In just a few weeks, Arbeloa’s Madrid have beaten three teams coached by managerial greats: José Mourinho’s Benfica, Pep Guardiola’s City and Diego Simeone’s Atlético

It hasn’t all been plain sailing. Arbeloa’s debut as first-team coach saw Madrid knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Albacete. After back-to-back LaLiga defeats to Osasuna and Getafe, club sources told ESPN that barring “a miracle” or winning the Champions League — which at the time, felt like the same thing — Arbeloa would be replaced in the summer.

But results show the coach has, unquestionably, got a number of key things right, starting with his management of one of the team’s biggest — and previously most underperforming — stars.

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Vinícius Júnior, back in form

Vinícius became the public face of dressing-room opposition to Alonso with his petulant on-field reaction to being substituted by the coach during last October’s Clásico.

Alonso’s doubts about the Brazil forward had been evident since last summer — ESPN reported that he considered dropping Vinícius during the FIFA Club World Cup — and the coach left him out of the team in both LaLiga and the Champions League, despite being fully fit. The result: Vinícius lost confidence, went three months without scoring, and was loudly whistled by home fans at the Bernabéu,

Negotiations over a new contract — with his current deal up in 2027 — were at a standstill. ESPN reported that Alonso was a major, perhaps insurmountable, obstacle in Vinícius’s contract renewal.

Arbeloa’s top priority after taking over was to get the former Ballon d’Or runner-up back on side. He has praised and defended Vinícius at every opportunity, making him a fixture in the starting XI again.

“I’m going to work to get the best out of Vinícius,” the coach said in January. “I’m going to demand that [the other] players look for him [with the ball]. He’s fearless. He’s one of the most dangerous players, if not the most dangerous, in the world. He embodies what a Real Madrid player is.”

Arbeloa’s faith and patience were rewarded when Vinícius scored in five consecutive games in February — matching his career-best run — and then scored back-to-back braces against City and Atlético Madrid. When he was substituted late on against Atlético, Arbeloa was waiting with a bear hug on the touchline.

“I don’t know if [Vinícius] is in the best form of his career, but he’s not far off,” the coach said on Sunday.

Speaking while on international duty with Brazil this week, Vinícius said he now wishes to stay at Madrid “for a long time.”

A new role for Valverde

If Vinícius’ transformation has been the most eye-catching of Arbeloa’s tenure, Valverde’s metamorphosis hasn’t been far behind. Valverde was another of the senior players, alongside Vinícius and Jude Bellingham, who — sources close to the dressing room told ESPN — were unconvinced by Alonso.

TV images showed the midfielder unenthusiastically warming up on the sidelines after being left out of the XI for a trip to Kairat Almaty in September, and he was frequently picked at right-back — a position he said he “wasn’t born to play” — in the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dani Carvajal.

Valverde hadn’t scored this season until January’s Spanish Supercopa. Now, under Arbeloa — and after being restored to the marauding right-wing position he thrived in under Carlo Ancelotti — he has scored six goals in a month, including a hat trick against City that made headlines around the world, and the crucial second goal against Atlético.

“Fede is everything a Real Madrid player should be,” Arbeloa said after Valverde scored a 94th-minute winner at Celta Vigo on March 6. “He has the spirit of [1980s club legend] Juanito. He has that quality which the great players in our history have had, and today he carried the team on his back.”

Liberated from right-back, and shifted out wide from a deep-lying central position which looked ill-suited to his skillset, Valverde is thriving. This is no reinvention from Arbeloa. Instead, as with Vinícius, it’s been about giving a talented player confidence, and putting them in a position to flourish.

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Pitarch and homegrown talent

As the former coach of Madrid’s reserve side, Castilla — and before that, with the club’s youth teams — Arbeloa’s first-hand knowledge of the academy was signalled as a positive before his appointment. But the opportunities he has given to young players have been more frequent and more extensive than anybody could have predicted.

In Madrid’s 4-1 win over Elche at the Bernabéu on March 14, Madrid kicked off with one young homegrown talent, midfielder Thiago Pitarch, in the starting eleven, before Arbeloa introduced another five — Gonzalo García, Daniel Yañez, Diego Aguado, Manuel Ángel and César Palacios — off the bench. Madrid were only 2-0 up at the time, the outcome far from certain.

“I can die in peace after a night like this,” Arbeloa said, with a touch of hyperbole, afterward. “For someone who came up through the youth ranks and made it to the first team, this is a day of immense happiness and pride … It reminded me of the Madrid of the [famous 1980s homegrown team] Quinta del Buitre era.”

Arbeloa’s belief in youth has been justified. The energetic, fearless 18-year-old Thiago Pitarch has excelled, starting the team’s last six games, bringing dynamism and movement to a previously static midfield. Yañez contributed an assist against Elche.

Arbeloa has shown that he wasn’t just talking up the academy; he meant it. Sources told ESPN that senior club executives are delighted with his focus on the cantera, conscious of the resulting soaring valuations for homegrown players like Pitarch.

A compact 4-4-2 and a ‘false No. 9’

Pitarch has slotted into an athletic midfield quartet alongside Aurélien Tchouaméni — the team’s other outstanding player in recent weeks — Valverde, and Arda Güler. Vinícius has formed part of Arbeloa’s front two, starting on the left but with the freedom to step inside and take up dangerous, goal-scoring positions inside the box.

Partnering him, in the absence of Mbappé — who has been recovering from a knee sprain — has been Brahim Díaz. Díaz has often underwhelmed since joining Madrid, and made just one start in Arbeloa’s first two months in charge after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations a week into his new coach’s reign. But he has now started Madrid’s last five games, including both legs against City, playing an unshowy, hard-working ‘false No. 9’ role, and growing in stature.

“[Díaz] is understanding well what I want from him,” Arbeloa said on Sunday. “When opponents sit deep, he has a lot of freedom to move between the lines. He wanted opportunities, and just not making mistakes wasn’t enough. He’s a player who should take chances, have one-on-ones, get shots on goal and win penalties like today. That’s the Brahim we need.”

Winning over the doubters

Multiple sources close to the first-team squad have told ESPN that there is a notable improvement in the atmosphere around the Valdebebas training complex — and inside the dressing room — since Arbeloa’s arrival, a welcome sight following the fraught end to Alonso’s reign. Club executives are aware of this change, sources said, and point to it as proof that they made the right decision in removing Alonso when they did. The former coach had been focused almost exclusively on tactical solutions to the team’s problems, sources said, while Arbeloa is less concerned with on-field coaching, and more with supporting the players emotionally and putting them in a position to perform.

However, it must also be said that when results were bad — after the LaLiga losses to Osasuna and Getafe — the picture painted of Arbeloa’s management by sources close to the dressing room was much less positive. Then, some players were critical of Arbeloa’s approach and messaging, while executives said that he was almost certain to lose his job in the summer.

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What about Mbappé and Bellingham?

The recoveries from injury of Mbappé — who made his return as a substitute against City — and Bellingham — who came off the bench against Atlético — present an opportunity, but also a significant challenge for Arbeloa. Two of the world’s best players are back and available for selection; but their inclusion risks breaking up the cohesive team unit that the coach has been able to build in their absence.

There is no doubt that top scorer Mbappé will replace Díaz, who has been an important part of the team’s success in recent weeks, while Bellingham will come in for either Pitarch or Güler. But while the two superstars possess many qualities, they may find it difficult to emulate those that their lower-profile teammates brought to the side: selfless work-rate and an acceptance of a specific, defined role to benefit the team as a whole.

After the international break, Madrid travel to Mallorca in LaLiga, before hosting Bayern Munich, one of the best teams in Europe, in the Champions League quarterfinals. Despite Arbeloa’s successes in recent weeks, club sources are still reluctant to state that he would remain in charge next season if his Madrid aren’t able to win either trophy.

“I’m not Gandalf,” Arbeloa said last month in another idiosyncratic news conference diversion, when asked about changing the team’s fortunes. “What I’m getting is what I wanted from my players: commitment and effort.”

That back-to-basics approach has worked its magic so far. Eliminating Bayern would be Arbeloa’s greatest trick yet.