The day Mourinho called Arbeloa 'Cafu'... but not in a good way

Alvaro Arbeloa has revealed the time Jose Mourinho called him Cafu at Real Madrid - and not for the right reasons.

The former Los Blancos right-back was speaking to ultra-distance athlete Valenti Sanjuan on his YouTube channel.

"I think it was against Sevilla," Arbeloa recalled.

"In the first half, I always used to play on his side of the pitch, but that day I was on the other side and when you're separated from your coach, you're let loose.

"I went forward six or seven times and at half-time he said: 'We've got Cafu on our team today, why is Cafu going forward so many times?'

"The chat was for me only; it wasn't exactly what he wanted from me."

Arbeloa worked under Mourinho for three years at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu and has fond memories of the Portuguese coach.

"I'm a big fan of the coach, but I'm more of a fan of Jose," he said.

"I consider him a friend. He was a coach with whom I learned, enjoyed and worked like an animal.

"You can't stop laughing with him because he has a thousand anecdotes.

"He's a great guy and one of those guys who's worth [working with]. He made a big impact on me, both professionally and personally.

"He was able to demand you to train until death and then tell you jokes and be one of us.

"He was a star like Cristiano [Ronaldo], it's difficult to find someone who is as media-friendly as the players."

Thibaut Courtois caused a stir this week for claiming that Real Madrid deserved to win the LaLiga Santander title more than Barcelona this season.

"Madrid are clearly better than Barcelona because it's a results business and they've been excellent," Arbeloa noted.

"It's difficult to win the Champions League without being the best, but to win three in a row or four in five years, you have to be really good and know how to perform in key moments.

"What [Zinedine Zidane] has done, I don't know when we'll see something like it again."