Real Madrid returned to winning ways after defeats that cost them the Spanish Super Cup, their place in the Copa del Rey and led to a change of coach inside a week — but the home fans made their feelings clear throughout the victory over Levante.
While Xabi Alonso, who was dismissed on Monday, enjoyed the sea air in San Sebastian in northern Spain, Alvaro Arbeloa, promoted from the Real Madrid Castilla, took charge of his first La Liga match.
On his 43rd birthday, he started with a win, a dull 2-0 against a relegation-threatened team but it was surrounded by a lot of noise. There were many boos directed at the players, with particular intensity against Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham, and repeated chants against president Florentino Perez.
Perez, in charge since returning to the club in 2009, was re-elected in January 2025 until 2029, after an election without opposition. The attacks towards the 78-year-old had not happened at the stadium since 2015, when Rafael Benitez was head coach.
Florentino Perez, centre, before the match against Levante kicked off (Alberto Gardin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Arbeloa must have known what was coming as he appealed for calm in his pre-match press conference on Friday when he referred to the iconic figure of Juan Gomez ‘Juanito’. The coach had used the famous phrase of Juanito, a former Madrid player who died in a traffic accident in 1992 aged 37 and whose name is remembered in the seventh minute of every home match.
“I understand that the Madrid fans are hurt and disappointed with us, but I’m going to ask them to support their players,” Arbelosa said. “Juanito said that 90 minutes at the Bernabeu are ‘molto longo (very long)’ and it did not mean the stadium against the players.”
The request was nowhere near being fulfilled, with the atmosphere in the Bernabeu reaching its most tense in decades.
In the build-up in the city, there had been banners on roads calling for Perez to step down. At the same time, fans on social media organised protests for the game, including a chant in the fifth minute aimed at the president. That happened, with cameras capturing the president in the VIP box reacting with a forced laugh.
The “Florentino resign!” chant was repeated at least twice more, the loudest of which was heard at half-time, when the players were back in the dressing room.
Arbeloa was critical and cryptic about that at the press conference. “I know where the boos and the campaigns are coming from, they are not from people who don’t like Florentino, but from people who don’t like Madrid,” he said.
“They’re not going to fool me, we’re lucky to have him because he’s the most important person in the history of the club alongside Santiago Bernabeu.”
The players were not spared criticism either.
Alvaro Arbeloa’s calls for calm before kick-off were ignored (Alberto Gardin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The reception to the bus arriving at the Bernabeu, so characteristic on big nights — especially in the Champions League, due to the connection between the supporters and the team — was hostile.
It soon became even clearer that this would be the norm for the next few hours. The few fans who went into the ground early booed Thibaut Courtois — one of the few players who had escaped criticism — and the other goalkeepers as they came out to warm up.
The noise level rose when the players appeared on the field, and again when they retired to the dressing room before kick-off.
Madrid fans protested with white handkerchiefs against Levante (Burak Akbulut/Anadolu via Getty Images)
And it continued when the Madrid team was announced to the crowd too. The players most singled out were Vinicius, Bellingham, and, to a lesser extent, vice-captain Fede Valverde.
These three players were among those who reportedly did not believe in Alonso’s ideas, which led to internal tensions over the methods the Basque coach tried to implement.
Kylian Mbappe, who would go on to win and score the penalty to break the deadlock, was not booed.
At the start of the match, there were even whistles between the local fans. The rest of the stadium protested when the Grada fans, the club’s organised fan group located behind one of the goals, cheered on the team.
Vinicius took centre stage at the end of the game — part of the crowd applauded him, but the majority reacted negatively.
Sound off, clearer reaction: lots of whistles at the Santiago Bernabeu from Real Madrid supporters.
Whistles also for the Grada Fans when they have started to cheer. @TheAthleticFC pic.twitter.com/n82zhqvFmG
— Mario Cortegana (@MarioCortegana) January 17, 2026
Mbappe pleaded for the boos to stop while Vinicius asked for encouragement by raising his arms. When he didn’t get it, he was the first to leave the pitch after the final whistle, consoled on his way by team-mates and staff.
“The only thing I’m going to do is work to get the best out of Vinicius,” Arbeloa told the media in his post-match press conference. “I’m going to demand that his team-mates look for him because he’s one of the most unbalancing players, if not the most, in the world. I’m very proud to be his coach.”
Mistakes by Dean Huijsen and Eduardo Camavinga were greeted by boos but the crowd did recognise the efforts of academy products Gonzalo Garcia and Raul Asencio, who made it 2-0 with a great header. Asencio was playing with a mask after having his nose broken. Arda Guler, who had a big impact after coming on at half-time, was named man of the match.
In the final minutes, the Grada fans chanted the new coach’s name, with some boos in response. Arbeloa’s birthday present was three points, but his celebrations will not last long with the amount of work needed to lift the mood on and off the pitch at the Bernabeu.
