End of a real nightmare — Xabi Alonso’s chapter ends with a sour taste in Madrid

Imagine being Xabi Alonso in May 2025. After a fairytale stint at Bayer Leverkusen, you are appointed head coach of one of the biggest clubs in the world: Real Madrid, a club that was once your home as a player and now has some of the best players in the world.

There is everything to have another legendary chapter. Unfortunately for Xabi Alonso, that was not the case.

A Spanish Super Cup final loss to Barcelona is one thing, but for players to ignore your instructions to give the opposition a guard of honor was a clear sign of a broken home.

For the Spanish coach, the switch from players like Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka and Patrik Schick to Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr. and Kylian Mbappe tactically no challenge.

But on a managerial level, the challenge of dealing with a locker room full of talent and the imperfections that came with it ultimately cost him his job.

Arrival – A tactical change

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup – during the summer – was Alonso’s first real tournament as Madrid coach. He had the time to set up a more rigid system for players who were used to more freedom under Carlo Ancelotti. And it showed positive signs.

Four wins and a draw in a run to the semi-finals where, despite a 0-4 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, it showed all the hallmarks of a new era emerging in central Spain.

Alonso largely stuck to a 4-2-3-1 system and found capable wing-backs in Alvaro Carreras and Dani Carvajal, while Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde or Dani Ceballos provided an additional line of defense.

Arda Guler was placed in the center of the three-man midfield, with support from Vinicius, Franco Mastantuono or Bellingham.

Mbappe, who scored 31 league goals last season, has continued to flourish as a lone striker, scoring 18 goals in as many appearances this season, while the team itself has an xG of 2.5 per 90 minutes, the highest in the league.

But it wasn’t just about scoring goals.

In defense, the inexperience of newcomers Dean Huijsen and Carreras at the back was compensated by the hard yards put in by attacking players who pressed high.

After the 19 games until his departure, Real led the league in most tackles in the attacking third (63), conceding just 17 goals – lowest joint with Villarreal and Atletico Madrid.

Furthermore, Alonso did not shy away from making bold decisions, such as leaving Ancelotti’s regular Rodrygo on the bench, just because he did not fit his vision.

Alonso won ten and lost just one in his first eleven games in La Liga, including the Clasico. But victory came at a price.

Where did Alonso go wrong?

The first public signs of a rift – in player relations with Alonso – were visible during the Clásico win when Vinicius was substituted.

The Brazilian was visibly frustrated by the boss’s decision and shouted: «It’s always me (being substituted), I’m leaving the team, it’s better if I leave.» The Brazilian apologized the next day, with Alonso notably left out of the statement.

This is what Alonso’s predecessor, Ancelotti, succeeded in doing. Tactics aside, the Italian made sure the players were happy and well supported. Whether it is the current group of players or the Galacticos, which included Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos in 2013, freedom was in abundance.

The players came to believe that they were one, if not the best, in the world.

But Ancelotti had more to offer, purely in terms of reputation.

Unlike Alonso, whose first full-time managerial spell was at Leverkusen, Ancelotti arrived after trophy-laden seasons with European giants Chelsea, AC Milan and PSG, including twice winning the UEFA Champions League with the Italian team.

With freedom for players and fame on his CV, Ancelotti ensured that no player was bigger than the manager.

Unfortunately for Alonso, the odds continued to turn against him. Injuries to Carvajal, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Eder Militao depleted his side’s defensive line over the course of the season, forcing him to deploy Valverde and Tchouameni in damage control away from their favored positions, frustrating them and damaging dressing room morale.

Not surprisingly, the cracks widened.

Beginning of the end

The downfall started with a narrow 0-1 defeat against Liverpool in the Champions League.

Three consecutive draws and a shock loss to Celta Vigo that followed were enough for arch-rivals Barcelona to take top spot in La Liga.

Los Blancos slowly started to lose control on the pitch. In their first fifteen games in all competitions, they had at least 60 percent possession eleven times. This figure fell dramatically to just three over the next thirteen years – a drop of 50 percent.

With more wear and tear and less pressure from players, Madrid relied on individual brilliance to save games: an example of this was Mbappe’s 88th-minute strike saving his side’s blushes with a 3-2 win against fourth-tier Talavera in the Copa del Rey.

Five consecutive wins in all competitions from mid-December offered a small glimmer of hope, but the Spanish Super Cup final loss to Barcelona was the final straw.

The familiar problems persisted in that game – the Catalans had more ball possession (almost 71 percent), but this time individual magic – this time on Vinicius and striker Gonzalo Garcia – was not enough.

The backlash from his own players over giving Barcelona a guard of honor became a cruel nail in the coffin of Alonso’s legacy, who left the club shortly afterwards and was replaced by another former player, Alvaro Arbeloa.

A homecoming in the garb of one of the most decorated courts in European football seemed like a new ray of hope for Alonso last year.

It was overshadowed nine months later with modest results at best, which also left a sour taste of fractured player-manager relations in the Spanish capital.

Published on January 14, 2026