Real Madrid, here’s Xabi Alonso: doubts about the World Club Championship cleared up

Just hours after the official announcement of Carlo Ancelotti’s farewell, Real Madrid has announced that Xabi Alonso will be its next coach, while clarifying doubts about the Club World Cup: the former Bayer Leverkusen coach will be on the Merengues bench already in the United States for the first edition of the new rainbow competition.

“Real Madrid CF confirms that Xabi Alonso will be the coach for the next three seasons, from June 1, 2025 to June 30, 2028 – reads the note released on Sunday by the club in the Spanish capital -. Xabi Alonso is a Real Madrid legend and one of the greatest players in the history of world soccer. He played 236 matches with our team between 2009 and 2014, winning six titles in that time: the 10th Champions League in Lisbon, a European Super Cup, a La Liga title, 2 King Cups and a Spanish Super Cup“.

In addition to his long spell with the Blancos, Alonso has also played with the jerseys of Real Sociedad (where he grew up footballing)Eibar, Liverpool and Bayern Munich. He also played 113 official matches with the Spanish national team, with which he won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and two editions of the European Championships, in 2008 and 2012 (on the latter occasion beating Italy in the final).

As a coach, Xabi Alonso took his first steps at the helm of Real Madrid’s youth team in 2018-19, then moved to Real Sociedad where he led the B team for three seasons. From 2022 to 2025, he coached Bayer Leverkusen, with whom he won the championship in 2024 undefeated (never before had anyone succeeded in Germany), breaking Bayern Munich’s long hegemony, and also winning the German Cup and Super Cup in the same year. The only blemish was the failure to win the 2023-2024 Europa League: the Aspirins were in fact beaten by Atalanta in the final.