Before returning to Madrid
Alonso comments on Real Madrid rumors
January 21, 2025 – 9:50 a.mReading time: 1 min.
Before returning to Madrid for the duel with Atlético, Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso comments on the rumors surrounding his former club Real. He becomes clear.
Xabi Alonso accepted the barrage of questions about his future and a possible commitment to Real Madrid with a smile and completely relaxed. “I’m not surprised,” said the Bayer Leverkusen coach when he was grilled by numerous Spanish journalists on Monday evening before the Champions League game at Atlético Madrid: “I feel quite comfortable here. We have a difficult game against Atletico I have enough to do mentally.”
The Spaniard, who spent five years of his career (2009 to 2014) at Atlético’s city rivals Real, is repeatedly linked to the vacant coaching job at the Royals. It was only on Monday that the Spanish radio station “Onda Cero” reported that Carlo Ancelotti would give up his coaching position at Real after the end of the current season, regardless of how the season progresses. Accordingly, the Italian wants to take on a job as national coach instead.
Alonso’s contract with double winner Bayer runs until the summer of 2026, but he is still considered the favorite to succeed Ancelotti. The fact of coming back to Madrid “is something very special,” Alonso admitted before the game at the Estadio Metropolitano on Tuesday (from 9 p.m. on the t-online live ticker), adding that it was a “very nice time” in the Spanish capital – but other than that he “can’t say anything about it. We’re in the middle of the season.”