as a left-back at the Camp Nou, as his stronger right foot could stop Lionel Messi who had a tendency to cut his runs towards the center of the field; his team won 2–1 and eventually 2–2 on aggregate, with the player also featuring the full 90 minutes at Anfield. Arbeloa scored his first goal for Liverpool against Reading, on 7 April 2007. He replaced Steve Finnan in the last minutes of the Champions League final, a 2–1 defeat to A.C. Milan. Arbeloa's squad number changed from 2 to 17 for 2007–08, due to personal preference. He cemented a first-team place in that campaign, making 41 competitive appearances in a fourth-place finish. On 17 May 2009, in a match against West Bromwich Albion, Arbeloa was involved in an on-field clash with teammate Jamie Carragher – the two had to be separated by Daniel Agger, Xabi Alonso, Emiliano Insúa and Pepe Reina. Carragher later explained that he clashed with Arbeloa as a moment of poor defending from the latter threatened the clean sheet, further explaining "we want to keep a clean sheet and we want Pepe to have a chance of the Golden Glove for the fourth season running"; Benítez refused to comment about the incident. Return to Real Madrid On 29 July 2009, it was announced that Real Madrid and Liverpool had reached an agreement on the transfer of Arbeloa, for a fee of £5 million and a five-year contract. After the departure of Míchel Salgado and Miguel Torres, he was handed the number 2 jersey. Arbeloa spent the vast majority of his first season in his second stint as a left-back, netting his first goal on 13 February 2010 in a 3–0 away win over Xerez CD. His second came in the Madrid Derby on 28 March, scoring with his right foot past David de Gea in the 3–2 defeat of Atlético Madrid. Under new manager José Mourinho, he celebrated his tenth appearance in the Champions League with his first goal in the competition, netting from outside the penalty area in a 4–0 victory at AFC Ajax in the group stage. In the 2011–12 campaign, due to Ricardo Carvalho's lengthy injury, Sergio Ramos was relocated to centre-back and Arbeloa began appearing almost exclusively on the right side of the back four. On 1 August 2012, he extended his link to the club until June 2016. Subsequently, Arbeloa became a