Major losses
One of the key reasons behind Xabi Alonso’s departure was the embarrassing losses that Real Madrid suffered in major matches. Even before the recent 2-3 loss to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final, Alonso’s team were thrashed by Paris Saint-Germain 0-4 in the Club World Cup, routed by Atletico Madrid 2-5 in the league, beaten 1-2 by Man City in the Champions League (UCL), and 0-1 by an out-of-form Liverpool in the UCL.
Big egos, big mess
Real Madrid is a club renowned for its global superstars that prowl their hallowed turf. But with superstardom comes big egos, and unfortunately for Alonso, he couldn’t control that in the dressing room. Clear evidence of this is the Vinicius Jr fiasco during Real’s 2-1 win over Barcelona in October. The Brazilian was left fuming after his early substitution and stormed off straight to the locker room. But instead of punishing him, Alonso simply restored Vinicius to his near undroppable status in the team. Even in the most recent Super Cup loss, skipper Kylian Mbappe appeared to defy Alonso’s authority when the coach asked his team to form a guard of honour for Barcelona.
Tactical trouble
Alonso came to Madrid with firm belief in his tactics as he had masterminded Bayer Leverkusen to an unprecedented domestic double in the 2023-24 season. However, at Madrid, Alonso’s ideas seemed frazzled. He began the season asking his team to adopt a high-press, but then gave up on it. He restored Jude Bellingham to the starting XI in mid-September despite the England international having just returned from injury while his form was underwhelming too. As the season rolled on, Alonso’s tactics became passive and reactive; in the Super Cup, Real tried restricting Barca from scoring, rather than focusing on attack.
No faith in youngsters
The likes of talented youngsters like Arda Guler and Franco Mastantuono had started the season brightly, but coach Alonso did not seem to put enough trust in their abilities as their minutes regressed. Alonso instead continued to place his faith in underperforming stars like Vinicius Jr, who ended up going on a lengthy run of 16 games without scoring a goal.
34No. of games for Madrid under Xabi Alonso; 8th-shortest tenure at the club since 2000
24No. of games won by Xabi Alonso as Real Madrid boss across 34 matches
Who is Alvaro Arbeloa, Real Madrid’s new boss?
Alvaro Arbeloa. Pic/AFP
Alvaro Arbeloa was appointed as Real Madrid’s new coach moments after they parted ways with Xabi Alonso on Monday.
Arbeloa, 42, knows the club inside out, not just from his seven-year tenure there as a player, but also because he has been coaching their junior teams since 2017.
The former Spanish international, a 201 World Cup-winner, coached the Los Blancos’s U-14 side in 2020. He then graduated to the U-19 side in 2022, before being handed the reins of Real’s B team in May 2025.
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