Real Madrid ousted from Copa by 2nd-division club Albacete in debut of coach Arbeloa

MADRID (AP) — Álvaro Arbeloa got off to a dismal start as the new coach of Real Madrid, seeing his team lose to second-division club Albacete 3-2 and drop out of the Copa del Rey in the round of 16 on Wednesday.

Jefté Betancor scored the game-winning goal four minutes into stoppage time to send Albacete to the quarterfinals. Gonzalo García had also scored in added time for Madrid to even the match at 2-2.

Madrid struggled from the start in the debut of Arbeloa, the club's former B-team coach who on Monday was picked to replace Xabi Alonso following a tumultuous eight-month stint at the helm.

“At this club, even a draw is bad, a tragedy, imagine a defeat like this, especially against a lower-division opponent," Arbeloa said. "If anyone is responsible, it’s me, as I’m the one who made the decisions regarding the lineup, how we wanted to play, and the substitutions. I can only thank the players for the welcome they gave me and help them recover physically and mentally.”

Arbeloa used a few B-team players as expected, but he drew some criticism for resting many of his top stars, including Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham, Thibaut Courtois and Rodrygo. Vinícius Júnior started, but was mostly ineffective as Madrid had difficulty creating scoring opportunities.

Arbeloa said he had “no regrets” about his squad choice.

“I was convinced that the squad was the right one," Arbeloa said. “It was a great team, the starting lineup and the bench. I have a very talented squad and it’s not easy for them to do everything I’ve asked of them in just one day with a new coach. I feel ultimately responsible.”

Veteran defender Dani Carvajal, who entered the game in the second half, said Madrid fans deserved an apology after the team's performance.

“We are not going through our best moment,” he said. “Everyone has to give a lot more.”

Albacete sits in 17th-place in the 22-team second-division standings. It hadn't won in five consecutive games in all competitions.

The hosts had gotten on the board first with Javier Villar scoring with a header off a corner kick in the 42nd and Franco Mastantuono equalized from close range three minutes into first-half stoppage time. Betancor put Albacete back in front in the 82nd with a shot from inside the area after the Madrid defense failed to fully clear a cross into the box.

“It’s the greatest thing in football and it happened today," Betancor said. "I’m so happy for my team, everyone worked like crazy. I’m very, very happy.”

Madrid was coming off a 3-2 loss to Barcelona in the final of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia. It trails Barcelona by four points at the halfway point in the Spanish league, and sits in seventh place in the league phase of the Champions League. Madrid's next match is at home on Saturday against Levante in the Spanish league.

Like Alonso, the 42-year-old Arbeloa played several years for Madrid. He has been with the club for 20 years, having coached many of its youth squads.

As a player, Arbeloa helped Madrid win eight titles from 2009-16, including two European Cups and one Spanish league. He also helped Spain win the 2010 World Cup and the 2008 and 2012 European Championships.

In other meetings between first-division clubs, Rayo Vallecano lost 2-0 at Alaves and Real Betis beat Elche 2-1 at home.

Rayo played with 10 men from the 69th as Isi Palazón was sent off. Ezequiel Ávila scored twice, including an 80th-minute winner, as Betis rallied from behind against Elche.

On Tuesday, Atletico Madrid beat second-division club Deportivo La Coruña 1-0.

Barcelona visits Racing Santander — the second-tier leader — on Thursday.

The round of 16 is played in single elimination games.

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Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior reacts at the end of the Copa del Rey round of 16 soccer match between Albacete and Real Madrid, in Albacete, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Albacete's players celebrate their team victory at the end the Copa del Rey round of 16 soccer match between Albacete and Real Madrid, in Albacete, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior reacts at the end of the Copa del Rey round of 16 soccer match between Albacete and Real Madrid, in Albacete, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior argues with Albacete's players during the Copa del Rey round of 16 soccer match between Albacete and Real Madrid, in Albacete, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Real Madrid players react after Albacete scored its second goal during the Copa del Rey round-of-16 soccer match between Albacete and Real Madrid, in Albacete, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Real Madrid players react after Albacete scored its second goal during the Copa del Rey round of 16 soccer match between Albacete and Real Madrid, in Albacete, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Real Madrid players react after Albacete scored its second goal during the Copa del Rey round of 16 soccer match between Albacete and Real Madrid, in Albacete, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior, left, and Real Madrid's head coach Alvaro Arbeloa during the Copa del Rey round of 16 soccer match between Albacete and Real Madrid, in Albacete, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Gulf Arab nations came under renewed missile and drone fire Tuesday from Iran, which has been targeting regional oil infrastructure and vowed not to relinquish its stranglehold on the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Israel also launched new strikes on Iran and Lebanon, as the war in the Middle East showed no signs of abating.

Dubai, a major transit hub for international travel, briefly shut its airspace as the military said it was “responding to incoming missile and drone threats” around the city, and a man was killed by the debris of a missile intercepted over Abu Dhabi.

The Israeli military said early Tuesday it had begun a “wide-scale wave of strikes” across Iran’s capital and was also stepping up strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Israel also reported two incoming salvos before dawn from Iran at Tel Aviv and elsewhere, and said Hezbollah targeted Israel's north.

Iran kept up the pressure on the energy infrastructure of its Gulf Arab neighbors, hitting an oil facility in Fujairah, a UAE emirate on the country’s east coast with the Gulf of Oman that has been repeatedly targeted. State-run WAM news reported that no one had been injured in the blast from the drone strike.

The man killed by falling debris from an intercepted missile was the eighth person to die in the UAE since the start of the war, authorities said.

Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, has given rise to increasing concerns of a global energy crisis. Early Tuesday it hit a tanker anchored off the coast of Fujairah, one of about 20 vessels hit since Israel and the United States started the war with an attack on Iran on Feb. 28.

Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said his country had been given no choice but to keep up its pressure on shipping traffic in the strait.

“They are flying, launching missiles, should we just sit back and do nothing in response?" he said in an interview on state television.

With Washington under increasing pressure over rising oil prices, Brent crude, the international standard, remained over $100 a barrel, up more than 40% since the war started.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he had demanded that roughly a half-dozen countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. But his appeals brought no immediate commitments, with many saying they are hesitant to get involved in a war with no defined exit plan and skeptical that they could do more than the U.S. Navy.

The UAE shut down its airspace early Tuesday as its military reported it was “responding to missile and drone threats from Iran." The closure was soon lifted, and not long after the sounds of explosions could be heard as the military worked to intercept incoming fire.

The snap announcement on its airspace showed the balancing act Emirati authorities face in trying to keep their long-haul carriers, Emirates and Etihad, flying as Iranian attacks continue to target the country.

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry reported intercepting a dozen drones Tuesday morning over the country’s vast Eastern Province, home to oil infrastructure.

In Qatar, the sounds of explosions boomed over the capital early in the day as defenses worked to intercept incoming fire. Qatar's Defense Ministry said later that it had successfully thwarted a missile attack on the city, though a fire broke out in an industrial area from a downed projectile.

Attacks from Iran-linked proxy forces continued in Iraq, as the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad was hit with shrapnel from drones that had been intercepted.

The embassy's air defenses were able to shoot down all four drones targeting the facility, according to two Iraqi security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

A separate strike targeted a house in the heavily fortified Presidential Compound in Baghdad’s al-Jadriya area, the officials said. It wasn’t clear who carried out either attack but Iran-allied militias have regularly been attacking American targets inside Iraq since the conflict began.

The Israeli military early Tuesday said it had launched new attacks across Tehran in addition to the Lebanese capital targeting Hezbollah militants.

More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran since the start of the conflict, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.

Israel’s strikes have also displaced more than 1 million Lebanese — or roughly 20% of the population — according to the Lebanese government, which says some 850 people have been killed.

Some Israeli troops have pushed into southern Lebanon, and there are fears Israel is preparing a large-scale invasion.

The military's chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said Monday on a visit to the northern border that Israel's army is “determined to deepen the operation until all of our objectives are achieved” and that the military's Northern Command is being reinforced with additional soldiers.

Israel reported two Iranian salvos early Tuesday fired toward Tel Aviv and an area south of the Sea of Galilee. More launches from Lebanon were also reported.

In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed.

The virtual shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz is unnerving the world economy, driving up energy prices, threatening food shortages in poor countries, destabilizing fragile states and complicating efforts by central banks to drive down prices for consumers.

There have been a handful of ships getting through, primarily Iranian but also from other countries including India and Turkey, and Iran has said it technically remains open - just not for the United States, Israel and its allies.

Underscoring the danger of even getting close to the strait, a tanker anchored off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates was hit by a projectile early Tuesday morning and sustained minor damage, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, run by the British military.

Trump has been showing growing frustration at the tepid response to his call for help from other countries in opening the strait.

Many U.S. allies have been critical of the U.S. and Israel for failing to provide clarity on their objectives in the war and have suggested that they are more interested in a diplomatic solution than getting dragged into the conflict.

“What does Donald Trump expect a handful, or a couple of handfuls of European frigates to achieve there in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful U.S. Navy can't do alone?” asked German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Monday.

“It is not our war, we didn't start it, we want a diplomatic solution and a quick end, and more warships in the region won't help.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his country might deploy mine-hunting drones already in the region, but “will not be drawn into the wider war.”

Rising reported from Bangkok and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Giovanna Dell'Orto in Miami, Florida; and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.

A view of a building damaged in an Israeli airstrike, in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Two men ride their motorbike past a billboard of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

U.S. Embassy is seen across the Tigris River in Baghdad, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Fire and plumes of smoke rises after a drone struck a fuel tank forcing the temporary suspension of flights. near Dubai International Airport, in United Arab Emirates, early Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo)

Volunteers clean debris from a residential building damaged when a nearby police station was hit Friday in a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)