Borussia Dortmund meets on Saturday (July 5th, 2025, from 10 p.m. in the live ticker at Sportschau.de) in the quarterfinals of the club World Cup on Real Madrid. BVB coach Niko Kovac already recognizes the typical Xabi-Alonso football for the royal-Alonso himself is still critical.
Only “A little bit” Alonso claims that his team has already understood and implemented his team style. “We have a basic idea and try to implement it.“
The distances are not yet correct
What is still missing from his point of view, Alonso explained really worth seeing, but also very tough 1-0 in the round of 16 against Juventus in some passages, but also in some passages: “It’s about the distances between the players, with and without ball. We have to be better positioned and recognize where we should be to have the ball and recapture it. The team has to move closer together.”
Alonso does not have much time for intensive (tactical) training during the tournament in the USA, so the games have to serve to deepen the guidelines. Alonso is convinced: “Message and concept have arrived at the team. I am sure that we will be better at the end of the tournament than we were at the beginning.”
Remis against Al Hilal retrospectively upgraded
At the beginning of the tournament, i.e. at the Alonso premiere, there was a 1: 1 against Al Hilal, which was manageable by the trash factor. The sporting value of this draw has now increased significantly: the club from Saudi Arabia has just eliminated Manchester City in the round of 16.
Real Madrid’s Jew Bellingham in a duel with Juventus Turin’s Kephren Thuram
For Real, a 3: 1 against CF Pachuca and a 3-0 against RB Salzburg followed, in both games the Alonso team was clearly superior, played much more straightforward and faster than under Carlo Ancelott. The counterpressing after the ball losses also looked impressive in phases, so that Kovac admits: “The idea is unmistakable, only the players are others. Real plays as Bayer Leverkusen did under the coach Alonso. “
Brother duel fails
The ex-Dortmund Jude Bellingham, a pressing monster and lightning switch also plays an important role in the Alonso system in BVB times. Almost on Saturday there would have been a direct duel with his 19-year-old brother Jobe, whom Borussia brought from Sunderland for 30 million euros.
But Jobe Bellingham made an unnecessary foul in the 2-1 in the round of 16 against Monterrey in the 28th minute that the second yellow card was built in – and thus a lock for the game against Real. Curiously, however, he is said to have only experienced this during the half -time break, Kovac later revealed and said: “He needed comfort.”
Dortmund’s sports director Sebastian Kehl feels: “This is very bitter and sad. For Jobe, for all of us. That was actually the story we all wanted to write, he was looking forward to the duel.”