\n
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) \u2014 Two wins in eight games.<\/p>\n
This is Real Madrid’s record over the past five weeks and why Xabi Alonso is under so much pressure in his first season at his old club.<\/p>\n
Alonso appeared to be off to a good start, with Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 scoring at will and the team winning their first seven games of the season. Even the loss to Atl\u00e9tico Madrid was partially forgotten after the win against Barcelona.<\/p>\n
Then something went wrong. The team took a nosedive after losing to Liverpool in the Champions League last month. Losing at Anfield is acceptable for any club. Three consecutive La Liga draws against Rayo Vallecano, Elche and Girona have sounded a wake-up call for Madrid, which considers itself to be the best in the world.<\/p>\n
But something worse happened. Humiliating 0-2 loss to Celta Vigo<\/span> They then lost 2-1 to Josep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday. Both losses came in front of some disgruntled fans at the Santiago Bernab\u00e9u. Who heckled the team?<\/span>.<\/p>\nAll bets on Alonso’s future are off just months after leaving Bayer Leverkusen after an impressive stint at the German club that culminated with the Bundesliga title in 2024.<\/p>\n
Madrid will next face Alaves in northern Spain in the Spanish league next Sunday.<\/p>\n
Alonso said he feels the criticism and doubts but is not surprised.<\/p>\n
“I have to accept this situation and, as Real Madrid coach, I have to be ready to face it bravely, responsibly and self-critically, knowing that things can change,” said the former Madrid midfielder. “Despite the result, I found positive things personally and overall. Other things didn’t go quite as well, but we’re still in it.”<\/p>\n
key match<\/h2>\n
A game at Alaves is usually seen as a comfortable trip for Madrid. However, given the poor form and the pressure on Alonso, that may not work out.<\/p>\n
Alaves have been in good form at home this season, losing just two of their eight games in Vitoria, and won 1-0 against Real Sociedad in their previous match.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, leaders Barcelona are well ahead of Madrid and hold a four-point advantage heading into Saturday’s trip to Osasuna.<\/p>\n
Villarreal are in third place, one point behind Madrid. On Sunday we will visit Levante. Fourth place Atletico Madrid will host Valencia on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Featured players<\/h2>\n
Madrid fans will be eagerly waiting to see if Mbappe, who leads La Liga with 16 goals, will be available after missing the game against City due to a reported minor knee problem.<\/p>\n
“We will move forward day by day,” Alonso said of Mbappe after the match. “He wasn’t fit to play today. He could have played otherwise.”<\/p>\n
The next top scorer in the league is Barcelona’s Ferran Torres.<\/p>\n
With 11 league goals, Torres has established himself as a true attacking replacement for Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski.<\/p>\n
Torres could return to Osasuna’s starting lineup after Lewandowski started in Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.<\/p>\n
Activity suspended<\/h2>\n
Madrid defender Eder Militao suffered a muscle tear in his left leg during the game against Celta and was sidelined.<\/p>\n
Madrid will also be without suspended players Fran Garc\u00eda, Dani Carvajal, Alvaro Carreras and Endrick, who clashed with the referee in the Celta debacle.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP Soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BARCELONA, Spain (AP) \u2014 Two wins in eight games. This is Real Madrid’s record over the past five weeks and why Xabi Alonso is under so much pressure in his first season at his old club. Alonso appeared to be off to a good start, with Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 scoring at will and the team winning<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17042","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer"},"yoast_head":"\n
Real Madrid's trip to Alaves was a crucial moment for beleaguered coach Xabi Alonso - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Real Madrid's trip to Alaves was a crucial moment for beleaguered coach Xabi Alonso - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BARCELONA, Spain (AP) \u2014 Two wins in eight games. This is Real Madrid’s record over the past five weeks and why Xabi Alonso is under so much pressure in his first season at his old club. Alonso appeared to be off to a good start, with Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 scoring at will and the team winning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-11T12:37:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin_ok9yktt6\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin_ok9yktt6\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/\",\"name\":\"Real Madrid's trip to Alaves was a crucial moment for beleaguered coach Xabi Alonso - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Ffe2F922F7e1fac1b5c7e6f0c97329a3b556f2F7fd2d7bbaa2441809bbccf8fa2d9df8c.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-11T12:37:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Ffe2F922F7e1fac1b5c7e6f0c97329a3b556f2F7fd2d7bbaa2441809bbccf8fa2d9df8c.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Ffe2F922F7e1fac1b5c7e6f0c97329a3b556f2F7fd2d7bbaa2441809bbccf8fa2d9df8c.jpeg\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":810},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Real Madrid’s trip to Alaves was a crucial moment for beleaguered coach Xabi Alonso\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/\",\"name\":\"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates\",\"description\":\"EPL VIP is your ultimate source for all things related to the English Premier League. Get the latest EPL news, live match updates, transfer rumors, team analysis, fixtures, and exclusive insights for true football fans.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9\",\"name\":\"admin_ok9yktt6\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3caa6e0fae133a2d8ebe213abde6eafe85769664d063c8ab6c7960c877d904ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3caa6e0fae133a2d8ebe213abde6eafe85769664d063c8ab6c7960c877d904ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin_ok9yktt6\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/author\/admin_ok9yktt6\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Real Madrid's trip to Alaves was a crucial moment for beleaguered coach Xabi Alonso - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Real Madrid's trip to Alaves was a crucial moment for beleaguered coach Xabi Alonso - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates","og_description":"BARCELONA, Spain (AP) \u2014 Two wins in eight games. This is Real Madrid’s record over the past five weeks and why Xabi Alonso is under so much pressure in his first season at his old club. Alonso appeared to be off to a good start, with Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 scoring at will and the team winning","og_url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/","og_site_name":"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates","article_published_time":"2025-12-11T12:37:23+00:00","author":"admin_ok9yktt6","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin_ok9yktt6","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/","url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/","name":"Real Madrid's trip to Alaves was a crucial moment for beleaguered coach Xabi Alonso - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Ffe2F922F7e1fac1b5c7e6f0c97329a3b556f2F7fd2d7bbaa2441809bbccf8fa2d9df8c.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-12-11T12:37:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Ffe2F922F7e1fac1b5c7e6f0c97329a3b556f2F7fd2d7bbaa2441809bbccf8fa2d9df8c.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Ffe2F922F7e1fac1b5c7e6f0c97329a3b556f2F7fd2d7bbaa2441809bbccf8fa2d9df8c.jpeg","width":1440,"height":810},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/real-madrids-trip-to-alaves-was-a-crucial-moment-for-beleaguered-coach-xabi-alonso\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Real Madrid’s trip to Alaves was a crucial moment for beleaguered coach Xabi Alonso"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/","name":"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates","description":"EPL VIP is your ultimate source for all things related to the English Premier League. Get the latest EPL news, live match updates, transfer rumors, team analysis, fixtures, and exclusive insights for true football fans.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9","name":"admin_ok9yktt6","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3caa6e0fae133a2d8ebe213abde6eafe85769664d063c8ab6c7960c877d904ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3caa6e0fae133a2d8ebe213abde6eafe85769664d063c8ab6c7960c877d904ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin_ok9yktt6"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/eplvip.com"],"url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/author\/admin_ok9yktt6\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}