Will Alonso’s Real Madrid Head Into Clasico As League Leaders?

Some issues are merely written within the stars; Xabi Alonso managing Actual Madrid was one in all them.

After a sensational five-year spell that noticed him make 236 appearances, win the LaLiga title, Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España, and finish a 12-year drought for the membership’s elusive tenth UEFA Champions League title, Alonso made the transfer to Bavarian giants Bayern Munich in 2014, the place he received three Bundesliga titles in three years earlier than hanging up his boots.

Alonso then returned to his boyhood membership and began teaching Actual Sociedad’s B group between 2019 and 2022 earlier than making the transfer to German membership Bayer Leverkusen. He took cost of a facet that was hovering above the relegation zone after a dreadful opening weeks, and shortly injected them with new life, with Die Werkself ending sixth and reaching the Europa League semifinals. However no one may have imagined what was proper across the nook.

Bayer Leverkusen took world soccer by storm in 2023/24 by ending a 31-year trophy drought and claiming their second DFB-Pokal title in addition to a maiden Bundesliga title, and so they got here inside inches of securing an unbeaten treble season, solely to lose 3-0 to Atalanta within the Europa League Remaining. All indicators pointed to Alonso using off into the sundown and returning to his former membership Liverpool, who wanted somebody to step into Jürgen Klopp’s lofty footwear. As a substitute, he determined to remain put on the BayArena for one more season, understanding that his dream was not too distant from changing into actuality. It hung over each Leverkusen and Actual’s campaigns like a storm cloud, with either side failing to win any main silverware and relinquishing their titles to Bayern and Barcelona, and finally, it got here to fruition.

Alonso changed Carlo Ancelotti as Actual’s new supervisor following the completion of the LaLiga season, however quite than being given a full preseason to place his concepts into observe, he was compelled to step up and take cost after lower than a month, with Actual drawing to Al-Hilal of their FIFA Membership World Cup opener earlier than profitable their subsequent 4, culminating in a 4-0 defeat to PSG within the semifinal.

Since then, nevertheless, it’s been full steam for a new-look Actual Madrid facet that’s with out membership icons like Luka Modrić and Lucas Vázquez however is relishing its recent new blood with the likes of Franco Mastantuono, Álvaro Carreras and Dean Huijsen — all of whom are making a direct impression and elevating the general degree of the squad.

After kicking off the 2025/26 season with seven wins in a row, Actual have been despatched again right down to Earth after dropping 5-2 to crosstown rivals Atlético Madrid. However they’d bounce again in stellar style with a 5-0 thrashing of Kairat Almaty. And regardless of coping with a traditionally arduous spherical journey to Kazakhstan, Actual confirmed no indicators of fatigue as they took care of enterprise with a 3-1 house win towards one in all LaLiga’s premier opponents in Villarreal. This, mixed with Barcelona’s 4-1 defeat at Sevilla, would see Actual climb to the highest of the desk going into the October worldwide break. It implies that, if they will win at Getafe on Sunday, Actual can be in first place heading into El Clásico.

“Xabi Alonso is a celebrity, and for him to come back in and decide up the reins and instantly produce the consequences that he’s had, it’s a testomony to the truth that he’s an actual one,” acknowledged legendary sports activities broadcaster James Richardson. “They’re Actual Madrid, they’re commonly the group that does the inconceivable, and so they appear to treat that nearly as their birthright. With Alonso in cost, I believe they’ll be even higher than they have been beneath Ancelotti.”

“They’re at present two factors away from Barca, in order that they don’t really want recommendation from me. I believe if there are two points that individuals would level to, one is clearly the truth that they’ve acquired a variety of gamers who wish to be in the identical place. Kylian Mbappé’s excellent type appears to have moved him into the precedence there, and you then’ve additionally acquired Vinícius and Rodrygo. We’ll see how that works out, after which all the opposite gamers that they’re endlessly buying who can play in these roles like Brahim Díaz. So, yeah, there’s a slight query mark about how they make that every one work up entrance, however the largest query is the variety of accidents they’ve picked up on the again, and I suppose that’s simply right down to modifications of their coaching strategies.”

After a reasonably hospitable opening begin to his time in cost, Xabi Alonso seems set to enter probably the most difficult interval of his debut marketing campaign at Actual Madrid. Actual will host Juventus, Barcelona and Valencia earlier than touring to Liverpool, Rayo Vallecano, Elche, Olympiacos and Girona, adopted by house matches vs. Celta de Vigo and Manchester Metropolis. However earlier than that, they’ll be seeking to make it eight wins on the bounce towards a Getafe facet that, having received their first two matches of the marketing campaign, have since misplaced three, drawn twice, and received as soon as.