Real Madrid and Xabi Alonso are going their separate ways again. It is the first setback in Alonso’s coaching career and it was not his fault.
So that was it. After a little more than half a year, Xabi Alonso’s role as coach at Real Madrid is over again. Officially by “mutual agreement”, but probably fired because the club’s president, Florentino Pérez, wasn’t moving quickly enough and saw his sporting goals in danger after just a few months. A completely unexpected ending. And an incomprehensible one at that.
Until last summer, Alonso had coached Bayer Leverkusen very successfully, even bringing the club the first championship in the club’s history. The best and biggest clubs in the world, including FC Bayern, had Alonso on their list and were desperate to sign him. He was considered the hottest stock in the coaching market. In the end, Real Madrid won the contract.
A decision based on old ties. As a player, he had won all the important titles with the Royals, was considered the brains of the team and even back then as someone who would coach Real in the future. Nobody could have even remotely imagined that it would fail so badly.
Things went excellently at the start of this season: 13 wins in the first 14 competitive games. It was the best start to the season the Royals have ever had. This was followed by some sporting fluctuations, with reports of disagreements between Alonso and his biggest stars making the rounds. But in the most important competitions, the championship and the Champions League, Real is still fully in the race for the title.
Nevertheless, in the end Alonso probably did the math without some of his stars, who are said to have complained behind his back and threatened a change. And also without Florentino Pérez. An eccentric runs the club with him. A billionaire who invests a lot of money in Real Madrid and therefore has high expectations of all his subordinates – and at the same time no patience. He has proven that once again by firing Alonso, one day after the bitter defeat against FC Barcelona in the final of the Spanish Super Cup.
It should have been a love story. Alonso, Real and many titles – pure football romance. What it ended up being is a reflection of a recurring story in the football world: new coach, little time, no patience – and the crashing end.