Trent Alexander-Arnold was given a glimpse of the treatment he can expect at Real Madrid as their fans abused players after a 4-3 loss to Barcelona on Sunday.
Alexander-Arnold was booed throughout his penultimate Anfield game as a Liverpool player on Sunday as fans made clear their feelings on his decision to leave.
The right-back is set to join Real Madrid on a free transfer, though the Spanish side are already making moves to bring him in early ahead of the Club World Cup in June.
If he was shocked at the reception he was given during the 2-2 draw with Arsenal that is nothing in comparison to the criticism regularly dealt by Real fans.
Sunday brought a prime example as Carlo Ancelotti’s side lost the final Clasico of the season 4-3 to rivals Barcelona.
Real took an early two-goal lead through Kylian Mbappe’s brace only to head into half-time 4-2 down after goals from Eric Garcia, Lamine Yamal and two from Raphinha.
Mbappe sealed his hat-trick in the second half but Real were unable to find an equaliser, with Barcelona going closest to adding another as Fermin Lopez saw a late effort ruled out by VAR.
Barcelona‘s victory moves them closer to the title, sitting seven points clear of Real with three games left to play in LaLiga, and there was fury in Madrid as a result.
A number of Real supporters travelled to the club’s training ground in Valdebebas after the game to confront players as they returned, hanging a banner reading ‘Verguenza’ – Spanish for ‘shame’.
La afición del Real Madrid carga contra Florentino y los jugadores tras la derrota ante el Barcelona que sentencia la Liga? pic.twitter.com/eqrEb0W0by
— MARCA (@marca) May 11, 2025
Club security swiftly removed the banner but some fans were later filmed hurling insults at players as they left the training ground, while others stayed to applaud.
Per Marca, youngster Victor Munoz was forced to disable comments on Instagram after receiving abuse for a costly miss late into the game.
Munoz, a 21-year-old forward, came on to make his debut and found himself in a one-on-one with Wojciech Szczesny in his first touch of the game – but failed to take his chance with the score at 4-3.
“The footballer’s social media posts were filled with insults, so he decided to disable comments,” reports Marca.
It is far from the first time Real fans have gone overboard with criticism for their own players – and in fact, it is more like commonplace for the Spanish champions, with boos regularly heard ringing around the Bernabeu.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Marcelo and Iker Casillas – all legends of the club – are among those to have been given such treatment, and this season has seen similar for the likes of Mbappe and Jude Bellingham.
Alexander-Arnold will no doubt have been aware of this when he negotiated his deal with Real, but his experience at Anfield on Sunday may have been a reality check.
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