A defiant Alvaro Arbeloa vowed that "Real Madrid always comes back" after Sunday's 2-0 defeat in El Clasico crowned Barcelona as LaLiga champions.
Arbeloa watched on as his team found themselves two goals down in the opening 18 minutes, with Marcus Rashford's stunning free-kick putting the Blaugrana in front.
Ferran Torres then doubled Barcelona's lead with an equally sublime finish, with the Spaniard picking out the top-right corner after being teed up by Dani Olmo's clever flick.
Madrid rarely threatened their arch-rivals, though Jude Bellingham had a goal chalked off for offside after the break as the early damage proved too difficult to repair.
The result saw Barcelona crowned champions for the 29th time, just seven behind Madrid's tally, while it was the fifth time since winning their first title in the 21st century in 2004-05 that the Blaugrana have won back-to-back top-flight crowns.
It capped a miserable week both on and off the pitch for Los Blancos, whose pre-match preparations were overshadowed by an altercation between Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde, the latter missing Sunday's clash altogether.
Madrid's defeat also confirmed their second consecutive trophyless season domestically, and Arbeloa acknowledged that they had fallen way below their standards.
"We can't say many things, we understand the frustration, the disappointment, how dissatisfied they have to be with this season," Arbeloa said.
"The only thing we can do is work and look to the future, learn from everything we have done wrong this year.
"Real Madrid always comes back. We have fallen many times, and we have picked ourselves up many times, but I understand the anger that any Madrid fan can have."
FP: @FCBarcelona_es 2-0 @RealMadrid
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) May 10, 2026
9' Rashford
18' Ferrán Torres
@Emirates pic.twitter.com/Ijh7gAGlxG
Arbeloa denied tthe club needed a complete restructure in the summer, though he did say that too many slip-ups in the season were their downfall in the end.
"We have a great squad, we can get a lot of performances, everything that has happened in these months has not been easy at all, many losses of important players," he added.
"The club will always seek to improve, but we have a squad of very good players that any team in Europe would want.
"We need to collectively take a step forward, put the collective before the individual, we have to have a very clear idea. For me, that is the beginning.
"We have lost a lot of points in games against teams that we shouldn't. There are many games that we can't escape as they have escaped."
Arbeloa was also asked about his future with Madrid amid rumours that former boss Jose Mourinho is among the favourites to replace him for the 2026-27 season.
Mourinho, who was in charge for three years between 2010 and 2013, denied he had already spoken with the club's president Florentino Perez, but did not rule out speaking to his former employers once Benfica's campaign ends.
"You know that we will surely have a conversation with the club. What I want is for the team to finish well, for the players to be able to add minutes," Arbeloa said of his future.
"That is my objective, and what the future holds we will see."