Coach Alonso criticized
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Real Madrid has continued to lose ground to arch-rivals FC Barcelona in the Spanish championship. Former Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso’s star ensemble embarrassed themselves 0-2 (0-0) in the Estadio Bernabeu at home against Celta Vigo and thus botched the dress rehearsal for the Champions League duel on Wednesday (9 p.m.) against Manchester City.
The 21-year-old Swede Williot Swedberg (53rd minute, 90th+3) sealed Real’s home defeat with a brace. The second-placed team is already four points behind leaders Barcelona with German coach Hansi Flick. Madrid finished the game with just nine players. Fran García saw yellow-red in the 64th minute, and in the hectic final phase Álvaro Carreras (90+2) had to leave the field with a red card.
The Royals have only won two of the last seven competitive games. “Real Madrid is lost,” was the dramatic headline of the Spanish newspaper Marca. And thus depicted what the mood is like in Madrid. There is talk of “sluggish, listless football”. The “AS” wrote of a “listless, uninspired bunch”. The critical voices against coach Alonso are therefore growing more and more. At the press conference after the final whistle, he also took aim at referee Alejandro Quintero González.
“The referee’s decisions drove us crazy. I didn’t like the performance. Also the card against Álvaro… very, very debatable. I didn’t like that and it took a bit of control away from us. I didn’t like the referee’s performance today,” Alonso said, according to Real Total. The emotional coach said about the disappointing 0:2: “Of course we are all angry. It wasn’t the game we wanted, not the result we wanted.” Defender Éder Militão had to be substituted in the first half. “Mili’s injury hurt us, we couldn’t get ourselves up emotionally. Then we re-fixed things, but it wasn’t the game we wanted. We have to try to get over it as quickly as possible, it’s only three points. The league season is still long. The best thing is that we have the Champions League game against City on Wednesday to react and get rid of this bad feeling,” said Alonso.
The Spaniard continued: “We know what kind of self-criticism and demands there is at this club. We know that defeats hurt a lot, but we have to look forward, all of us.” Alonso downplayed the fact that Wednesday’s game against Man City might also be about his own future: “I definitely feel strong enough to turn this situation around for the better,” emphasized the ex-midfield strategist, according to Fabrizio Romano. In LaLiga, FC Barcelona is four points ahead of the top of the table. In the Champions League, Real is in fifth place with a good haul of twelve points after five games.
