20 years of ‘Spanish Liverpool’, the inspiration for a winning club and a “frustrated desire” with Xabi Alonso as “Klopp’s successor”

Twenty years have handed since a gaggle of Spaniards led by Rafa Benítez remodeled Liverpool right into a European champion workforce. On the heart of that revolution was Xabi Alonso, the elegant mind who orchestrated from the core with the imaginative and prescient of a strategist.

This Tuesday, destiny needed the Basque to return to Anfield, however he’ll now not put on pink. He now manages Actual Madrid, the membership the place he performed after leaving the ‘Reds’ and with which he seeks to proceed constructing his legend as a coach. A reunion stuffed with nostalgia, respect and the melancholy of what may very well be and by no means was.​

When Xabi Alonso arrived at Liverpool in the summertime of 2004, from Actual Sociedad, few imagined the influence he would have on the membership’s historical past.

Liverpool had been away from the good European conquests for years, and Benítez’s dedication to a 22-year-old Spanish midfielder, accompanied by different compatriots similar to Luis García, Josemi and Antonio Núñez, appeared like a dangerous mission. However Alonso confirmed from the primary recreation that he was right here to remain.​

José Andrés Medina, journalist and creator of the e book on ‘Spanish Liverpool’, clearly remembers these first days to EL ESPAÑOL: “It was arriving right here on Merseyside and from the primary recreation he already gave a lesson, a masterclass in horizontal balls, lengthy passing. And in a short while he started to talk English, an undisputed starter and folks liked him, as a result of it isn’t solely that, it is also that he slot in a lot with the membership, with the followers, together with his teammates.”​

Alonso shortly turned the lynchpin of Benítez’s workforce, an organizing midfielder with a pure class in distributing the sport, privileged tactical imaginative and prescient and surgical precision within the lengthy go.

His duo with Steven Gerrard shaped one of the crucial balanced and deadly midfields in Europe. “He was one of many gamers who gave the workforce a basis,” he factors out. “The whole lot else was constructed from Xabi and Gerrard.”

Istanbul night time

On Might 25, 2005, in Istanbul, Xabi Alonso wrote his identify in golden letters within the historical past of Liverpool. That Champions League ultimate towards Milan appeared misplaced when the Italian workforce took a 3-0 lead within the first half. However Liverpool staged essentially the most epic comeback in European soccer, and Alonso was the architect of the aim that made it 3-3.​

The Basque took a penalty that Dida stopped, however he was the primary to achieve the rebound and pushed the ball into the pink. That aim not solely equaled the rating, however unleashed the unwavering religion of a workforce that might find yourself lifting the Orejona within the penalty shootout.​

“Within the final league recreation Gerrard threw and missed. Per week later we performed the ultimate and Rafa (Benítez) designated that I used to be the thrower, or Kewell. And when it occurred, Kewell was not there. I threw it, I missed it however I put it within the second. And it modified the historical past of Liverpool,” Alonso himself recalled within the preview of this Tuesday’s recreation.

That night time in Istanbul established Alonso as a Liverpool legend. Not just for his soccer contribution, however for his persona, his quiet management and his capability to grasp the sport earlier than others. “Even then he behaved and thought like a coach,” reveals José Andrés Medina. “He was the extension of the coach on the sector.”

The exit that destroyed a mission

Xabi Alonso’s historical past at Liverpool may have been for much longer, however the membership’s monetary issues and inside tensions precipitated his departure in 2009. Florentino Pérez’s Actual Madrid signed the Basque for a determine near 35 million euros, and his absence left a void that was unattainable to fill.​

“When Xabi left, the workforce observed it loads. He fell precisely, that midfielder Alonso-Mascherano, who was his squire… Xabi was extra artistic and Mascherano was extra harmful, however they complemented one another very properly,” explains José Andrés. “The membership begins to lose, to promote gamers, Mascherano goes to Barça, Alonso involves Actual Madrid, then it loses its spine a bit.”

The signing of Alberto Aquilani, the Italian who was supposed to exchange Alonso, didn’t work out. The participant arrived broken and by no means reached the Basque’s stage. From there, the ‘Spanish Liverpool’ mission started to disintegrate. Fernando Torres left for Chelsea, Benítez left the bench and the membership entered a disaster from which it will take years to get well.​​

Return to Anfield

Twenty years after that magical night time in Istanbul, Xabi Alonso has returned to Anfield. However not as many Liverpool followers anticipated.

When Jürgen Klopp introduced his departure on the finish of the 2023-2024 season, Alonso’s identify was strongly instructed as his pure successor. The Basque had confirmed his value as coach of Bayer Leverkusen, attaining a historic undefeated document within the Bundesliga and profitable titles with a horny and trendy type of play.

Nonetheless, Alonso determined to remain in Germany for an additional 12 months and eventually accepted Actual Madrid’s supply to exchange Carlo Ancelotti in the summertime of 2025. His influence has been fast: 13 wins in 14 video games, management in LaLiga and a renewed taking part in id based mostly on defensive depth and ball management.​

“The fans were looking forward to the arrival of Xabi Alonso for the start of the new project, but they ended up being frustrated and Arne Slot arrived,” says José Andrés.

“Liverpool has something… it has a magnetism. It is on that step, on that rung,” reflects José Andrés. “It’s the exclusive mix between football and music,” he says.

Alonso returns to his old home as a rival, as coach of Real Madrid, and he does so at a delicate moment for Liverpool. The ‘Reds’ are going through a crisis of results under the direction of Arne Slot, while Alonso’s Madrid arrives in a state of grace after beating Valencia and beating Barcelona in El Clásico.​

The Basque coach has refused to train on the Anfield pitch before the match, citing reasons of tactical security, but the decision also reflects the respect and emotion generated by returning to a stadium where he was so happy.​

Twenty years later, Xabi Alonso is still more than a name at Anfield. It is a symbol of what Liverpool was and, for many, what it can still be again. His return as coach of Real Madrid closes a circle, but also opens a wound: that of the frustrated desire to one day see him direct the Reds from the bench.​

“He was a very smart player, very dynamic, very fast, very intuitive. So, since he likes him in the locker room, he is a very good player, he is a player that the fans adore,” concludes José Andrés. “When he came out, people already realized that it was a mistake to sell to him.”

This Tuesday, when the Champions League anthem plays at Anfield and Xabi Alonso steps on the visiting touchline, Liverpool fans will remember the player who led them to glory. But he will also look with nostalgia at the coach who, in another life, could have returned his club to greatness. Because in football, as in life, sometimes what could have been weighs as much as what was.