Despite a decent balance sheet
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The pressure on coach Xabi Alonso is increasing at Real Madrid. The Champions League duel on Wednesday (9 p.m.) against Manchester City is the last chance for the former Leverkusen champion coach, the newspaper “El Mundo” reported. Criticism is also getting louder in the transfer market forum – even though possible successors don’t really exist.
Those responsible at Royal discussed the embarrassing defeat at home at the Estadio Bernabeu against Celta Vigo (0-2) and came to this conclusion, according to the report. “Marca” also writes something similar. The team has to present itself differently against City. Real have only won one of their last five games in the league and have continued to lose ground to arch-rivals FC Barcelona.
Alonso, who only moved from the Bundesliga to the Spanish capital in the summer, is said to have fallen out with parts of his star ensemble, including offensive man Vinicius Junior. When you look at the numbers, everything doesn’t seem so crazy: with 36 points after 16 matchdays, Real are in a worse position than in the last four seasons, but they had a maximum of 39 points on their account. In the previous four years there were even fewer at 33, 35, 29 and 34. In addition, everything is on target in the Champions League with twelve out of 15 possible points.
Perhaps that’s why Alonso, who with 2.26 has a better points average than his predecessor Carlo Ancelotti (2.25), appeared confident on Sunday evening. “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,” he said. Alonso played down 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,” he emphasized.
Real Madrid: Are Zidane or Klopp alternatives? Skepticism in the TM forum
Zinédine Zidane and Jürgen Klopp were named as possible successors in the reports, both of whom are said to be at the top of the list of Real bosses. The former Liverpool coach has recently repeatedly stated that he is not available. And Zidane made significantly more mistakes during his second term (2019-2021) than during his first (2016-2021).
That’s why there is skepticism in the Real Forum as to whether Alonso will actually be fired. “Klopp is completely unrealistic, hopefully Zidane is too, especially since he is supposed to take over France in the summer. I don’t want to see Zidane without Kroos and Modrić, he will have a hard enough time with the French unless he has developed further,” writes “La_Fabrica”. And “KyliGol” adds: “Klopp is completely far-fetched. Zidane until the summer and then a radical squad cut. But this won’t happen with Florentino.”
Nevertheless, criticism of Alonso is also increasing among Real fans on Transfermarkt: “He has to slowly become aware that he is the Real Madrid coach. What are these constant system changes? Even after game 15, no game idea. Everything is geared towards Mbappé and if he doesn’t score, you have no plan B,” complains “elphenomen”. And “Ann04” says: “I don’t think Alonso will be a coach in Madrid for a long time. I still think he’s a very good coach in principle, but Real Madrid probably came too early and at the wrong time for him.”
