The Spanish football club Real Madrid has separated from his coach Xabi Alonso. As the La Liga record champions announced, the separation took place “by mutual agreement”. Alonso will be followed by former professional Álvaro Arbeloa, who has previously trained the second team.
The 44-year-old Alonso took over Real at the start of the season and succeeded Carlo Ancelotti. With Bayer Leverkusen he won the double in Germany in 2023/2024. In a statement, the Spanish club thanked Alonso and his coaching team. He will always have the affection and admiration of all Madridistas. “Real Madrid will always be his home,” it continued.
The coaching change follows Real’s defeat in the Spanish Super Cup. On Sunday had Madrid lost the Supercopa final in Saudi Arabia against arch rivals FC Barcelona (2:3). In Spain’s La Liga, Real are second, four points behind Hansi Flick’s team. The Madrilenians are currently threatened with the play-offs in the Champions League.
Really on the decline
There had been rumors for a long time that Alonso was about to be fired. “Projects take time. We are developing further in terms of football, emotions and team spirit,” Alonso said before the Supercup. After the 2-0 defeat against Celta Vigo at the beginning of December, there was reportedly a crisis meeting of the club’s management.
After Alonso won the German championship and the DFB Cup with Leverkusen, his coaching start at his former club initially looked promising. At the start of this season, Madrid fans celebrated 13 wins in the first 14 competitive games. At the beginning of November there was a 0-1 defeat against Alonso’s former club Liverpool FC. From then on, the failures piled up.
Although the record champions had recently stabilized somewhat in the championship, they were unable to repeat their performances from the beginning of the season. Despite five wins in a row, Spanish media described the final against Barcelona as a personal final in the desert.
