In 2010–11, Albiol was relegated to the bench as Real Madrid brought in another player for his position, Ricardo Carvalho (a compatriot of newly appointed manager José Mourinho), only appearing in the league through injury or suspension to teammates (Pepe again missed several matches due to physical problems). He did start, however, in the club's domestic cup campaign, helping it reach the final. On 26 January 2011, in the semi-final first leg against Sevilla FC (1–0 away win), he cleared a Luís Fabiano shot just before it crossed the goal line; on 16 April, he was sent off for fouling former Valencia teammate David Villa inside the box during "El Clásico", which resulted in the first goal in a 1–1 home draw, going on to miss the Spanish Cup final four days later – through suspension – a 1–0 win against the same opponent.