Look, if you’re a Madridista, you’ve probably spent the last few hours staring at a wall. Or screaming into a pillow. The real madrid game score from last night isn't just a number on a screen—it is a full-blown existential crisis for the biggest club in the world.
Albacete 3, Real Madrid 2.
Say it out loud. It sounds fake. It sounds like a FIFA simulation gone wrong. But at the Carlos Belmonte stadium on Wednesday night, it was very, very real. A Segunda Division team—currently struggling in the bottom half of the second tier—just knocked the Kings of Europe out of the Copa del Rey. In the Round of 16. Honestly, it’s the kind of result that gets people fired, which is ironic because the man in the dugout, Álvaro Arbeloa, was making his debut.
The Scoreline That Nobody Saw Coming
You’ve gotta feel for Arbeloa, sorta. He was thrown into the fire after Xabi Alonso was sacked following that bruising 3-2 loss to Barcelona in the Supercopa final just days ago. Madrid fans thought the Supercopa was the floor. We were wrong. The floor was apparently a chilly night in Castilla-La Mancha against a team that hasn't seen the top flight in years.
The game started exactly how you’d expect. Madrid had the ball. They moved it around. They looked... fine. But then the defense, which has been shakier than a leaf lately, just collapsed.
How the Goals Actually Happened
- The Shock Opener: Jefte Betancor—the 33-year-old veteran—poked one home early. The Madrid backline looked like they were still waiting for their luggage at the airport.
- The False Hope: Madrid actually fought back. Kylian Mbappé (who else?) equalized, and for a second, it felt like the natural order was being restored. Gonzalo García even put them ahead. 2-1 Madrid. Everything was fine.
- The Meltdown: Jefte scored again from a corner in the 82nd minute. Then, in the 90th minute, with the game screaming for extra time, Albacete found a winner. Total madness. The Carlos Belmonte erupted, and the real madrid game score was etched into history as one of the club's greatest humiliations.
Why the Real Madrid Game Score Matters for the Title Race
If you’re just looking for a score, 3-2 tells you who won. But if you care about La Liga, that score is a massive red flag. Madrid is currently sitting in 2nd place with 45 points, trailing Barcelona by four.
Winning is a habit, but so is losing.
Madrid has now lost three of their last four games across all competitions. They lost the Supercopa semi-final to Atletico (though they fought back to win that one 2-1), then got handled by Barca 3-2 in the final, and now this Albacete disaster. That’s nine goals conceded in four games. For a team starting Thibaut Courtois, that is genuinely pathetic.
Arbeloa has a mountain to climb. The "New Manager Bounce" usually involves winning, not losing to a team with a fraction of your budget. The fans at the Bernabéu are notoriously impatient. They don't care if you're a club legend; they care if you can beat Levante on Saturday.
The Mbappe Factor
Kylian Mbappé is doing everything he can. Seriously. He has 18 league goals and 29 across all competitions. He's the only reason the real madrid game score hasn't looked even worse over the last month. But one man cannot fix a midfield that looks leggy and a defense that seems to have forgotten the offside rule. Without Luka Modrić (now at AC Milan) and Lucas Vázquez (at Leverkusen), there’s a leadership void that Vinícius and Jude Bellingham are struggling to fill.
👉 See also: Concacaf Gold Cup Stats Explained (Simply)
What’s Next? Actionable Insights for the Weekend
If you’re tracking the next real madrid game score, here is what you need to look for. Madrid plays Levante on Saturday, January 17th.
- Watch the Lineup: If Arbeloa sticks with the same back four that let Albacete put three past them, expect a protest. Look for him to potentially drop Raúl Asencio or bring in more veteran presence if anyone is healthy.
- The Psychological Wall: Madrid usually responds to humiliations by scoring five. They did it to Betis (5-1) earlier this month. Watch the first 15 minutes. If they don't score early, the nerves will start to show.
- Betting Lean: Historically, Madrid after a Copa del Rey exit is a "wounded animal." Most analysts expect an "Over 2.5 goals" game against Levante because Madrid will be desperate to prove they can still find the net, even if they can't stop the other team from doing the same.
The reality is that Real Madrid is in a transition period that isn't going according to plan. The sacking of Alonso was supposed to stabilize the ship. Instead, the ship hit an iceberg named Albacete. Whether they can patch the hole before the Champions League clash with Monaco on January 20th is the only thing that matters now.
Keep a close eye on the injury reports for David Alaba and Militão. Without a stable center-back pairing, every real madrid game score for the next month is going to be a high-scoring heart attack for the fans.
Check the official La Liga standings on Saturday evening. If Barca wins and Madrid drops points to Levante, the title race might be over before February even begins.