Xabi Alonso’s reign as Real Madrid manager came to an abrupt end less than 24 hours after they lost to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup. A day after losing 3-2 to their Clasico rivals in Saudi Arabia, Los Blancos announced that Alonso had left by mutual consent after seven months in charge. Former Real Madrid midfielder Alonso, who played 236 games for the club as a player, was only appointed in June last year.
The Spaniard oversaw 34 matches as a manager, recording 24 wins, 4 draws and 6 losses. He will leave the club sitting second in La Liga, four points behind Barcelona. They have also reached the last 16 of the Copa del Rey and sit seventh in the Champions League table, automatically qualifying for the knockout stages and in a position to avoid a draw in the two-legged play-off. Real also reached the Club World Cup semi-finals in the summer under Alonso.
However, Real Madrid parted ways with Alonso despite winning five games in a row before losing to Barça and winning 13 of the first 14 games of the season. The former Liverpool man has been heavily linked with Arne Slott’s return to Anfield, where he endured two difficult seasons after leading the Reds to the Premier League title in his first season.
Despite the struggles, Liverpool defeated Alonso’s Real Madrid team in the Champions League at Anfield on November 4. “Real Madrid CF announces that, by mutual agreement between the club and Xabi Alonso, he has decided to end his first-team coaching duties,” the Spanish giants said in a statement on Monday night.
“Xabi Alonso is a Real Madrid legend and will always have the love and admiration of all Madrid fans because he has always represented the values of our club. Real Madrid will always be his home.”
“The club would like to thank Xabi Alonso and his entire technical team for their work and dedication during this period and wish them all the best in this new phase of their lives.”
Alonso’s former teammate Alvaro Arbeloa has been chosen to replace Alonso. “Real Madrid CF would like to announce that Álvaro Arbeloa will be the new manager of the first team,” the statement read.
“Alvaro Arbeloa has been the manager of Castilla since June 2025 and has spent his entire coaching career in Real Madrid’s youth organization since 2020. In the 2020-2021 season he coached the U-14 A team, winning the league title and in 2021-2022. In the season, he coached the U-16 team, and from 2022 to 2025 he coached the U-19 team.As a coach and U-19 player, he won the treble in the 2022-2023 season (League, Copa del Rey, Champions Cup), and also won the league in the 2024-2025 season.
“As a player, Alvaro Arbeloa was part of one of the most successful periods in Real Madrid’s history. He wore our shirt in 238 competitive matches between 2009 and 2016. During that time, he won eight trophies: two European Cups, one Club World Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one La Liga title, two Copa del Rey trophies and one Spanish Super Cup.
“Alvaro Arbeloa was part of a historic era for the Spanish national team, winning the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and two European Championships (2008 and 2012). He was capped 56 times.”
Before taking over as manager at the Bernabéu, Alonso had a hugely successful spell at Bayer Leverkusen. The 44-year-old led the German club to their first Bundesliga title. Die Werkself completed the 2023-24 season without losing a single game in 34 games, aiming for promotion to the Meisterschale with 28 wins and 6 draws.
In the same season, they won the DFB Pokal for the second time in club history, and finished runners-up in the Europa League, but lost to Atalanta in the final. Leverkusen’s Florian Wirths finished as the Bundesliga Player of the Year, but is now at Liverpool and is still looking to be as prolific as he was under Alonso.
