Xabi Alonso leaves Real Madrid after less than eight months in charge

Xabi Alonso has departed Real Madrid by mutual consent less than eight months after replacing Carlo Ancelotti as head coach.

Alonso had come under increasing pressure towards the end of last year and the Spanish giants announced their decision following Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup defeat to arch-rivals Barcelona in Saudi Arabia.

Alvaro Arbeloa, a former Liverpool team-mate of Alonso, has taken over as head coach.

A club statement read: “Real Madrid CF announces that, by mutual agreement between the club and Xabi Alonso, it has been decided to end his time as coach of the first team.

“Xabi Alonso will always have the affection and admiration of all madridismo because he is a Real Madrid legend and has always represented the values of our club. Real Madrid will always be his home.

“Our club thanks Xabi Alonso and his entire technical team for their work and dedication throughout this time, and wishes them the best of luck in this new stage of their lives.”

Real, who finished runners-up in LaLiga last season, trail defending champions Barcelona by four points and lost to Hansi Flick’s side in the Spanish Super Cup for the second year running on Sunday.

Alonso’s side have also lost to both Liverpool and Manchester City in the Champions League this season, as well as Atletico Madrid and Celta Vigo in LaLiga.

Former Real midfielder Alonso signed a three-year deal in May last year when succeeding Ancelotti, who left the club to become head coach of Brazil.

Alonso, who also had successful spells as a player at Liverpool and Bayern Munich, guided former club Bayer Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title in 2024 without losing a match in his first season in charge.

Leverkusen finished runners-up to Bayern the following season before Alonso agreed to return to Real, with whom he won LaLiga in 2012 and the Champions League in 2014 as a player.

The high point of his spell in charge at the Bernabeu Stadium came in a 2-1 home win over Barcelona in October during a six-game winning run, but Real won only two of their next eight matches in all competitions.

Despite a five-game winning sequence through December and January, Real announced his departure and immediately installed second-team coach and former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Spain defender Arbeloa as his successor.

Arbeloa joined Real as youth team coach in 2020 and was appointed in charge of their second team, Castilla, in June last year.

The club added: “As a player, Alvaro Arbeloa was part of Real Madrid in one of the most successful stages of its history.

“He defended our shirt between 2009 and 2016, in 238 official matches. During that time he won eight titles: two European Cups, one Club World Cup, one European Super Cup, one league, two Copa del Rey and one Spanish Super Cup.”