Real Madrid had their first training session under the new management of Alvaro Arbeloa earlier today, as they kickstarted preparations for Wednesday’s Copa del Rey clash.

Los Blancos take on minnows Albacete in the Copa del Rey Round of 16 and will hope to kick off the new era under Arbeloa with a strong performance and a win.

Many doubts for the game

However, Arbeloa will likely have to make do with a depleted squad for the trip to Albacete as several key Real Madrid stars did not train with the group today and could miss the cup tie.

Indeed, according to AS, Kylian Mbappe, Antonio Rudiger, Rodrygo, Eder Militao, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Ferland Mendy were all absent from the training session today.

Mbappe has been dealing with a knee issue over the past few weeks and missed the Spanish Super Cup semifinal vs Atletico Madrid.

He did push himself and make a cameo appearance in a losing cause in the final vs Barcelona, but is unlikely to be risked for the Albacete game.

The same holds for Rudiger as well, who pushed himself to play in the Super Cup semifinal despite dealing with knee discomfort and had to sit out of the final.

Rodrygo, too, finds himself in the same boat, having picked up an issue during the Super Cup, but having played in the final, he could be given a breather to recover.

Meanwhile, Mendy is dealing with a fresh calf issue that prevented him from being in the squad for the Spanish Super Cup final.

Militao and Trent have been out of action for quite some time now and are not expected to return anytime soon.

Arbeloa, meanwhile, called up five young talents from the reserve team in David Jimenez, Jorge Cestero, Cesar Palacios, Manuel Angel, and Joan Martinez for training.