Real Madrid, under the leadership of Xabi Alonso, did not achieve much success in half the season, but the specialist did not have any obvious failures. Yes, the Royal Club lost the battle for the Super Cup to its principal rival, however, even in this situation one can hardly talk about any hopelessness – the match could have turned out in favor of the Madrid team.

However, Real Madrid bosses unexpectedly decided to fire Alonso. What was that all about?

Parting with a legend

Barcelona beat Real Madrid 3-2 in a dramatic Spanish Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Some Los Blancos fans took another defeat in the Clasico to heart. But was it worth crying and throwing chairs when the Madrid team lost to their opponent not for the first or fifth time, but for the 105th time?

Young Real Madrid fans may be forgiven for this reaction, but the club’s management also seemed to be very disappointed in missing out on the trophy. It seems that the main titles this season have not yet been played out; the Madrid team can win the championship, the Cup, the Champions League. But the bosses of the Royal Club came to a strange decision in the middle of the season and fired Alonso.

“Xabi Alonso will always enjoy the love and respect of all Real Madrid fans because he is a legend of the club and has always represented our values. Real Madrid will always be his home. The club thanks Alonso and his entire team for their work and dedication throughout this time and wishes them good luck in the new stage of their lives, a statement on the Real Madrid website said.

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Strange choice

Of course, it cannot be said that Xabi Alonso did everything well at Real Madrid. The Spanish specialist failed to establish relationships with the stars in half the season. It seems that relations with the management were also not very healthy. It was not without reason that rumors arose about a possible replacement of the head coach with Zinedine Zidane or Jurgen Klopp. However, how many could confidently predict the Spaniard’s resignation the day before?

In the championship, Real is in second place, four points behind Barcelona, ​​which is perhaps not so scary in the long run. In the Champions League, the Spanish giants have no unsolvable problems yet; in the Spanish Cup, the whole struggle lies ahead. But perhaps the club felt that the situation within the team would prevent Alonso from achieving success.

They decided to replace Xabi Alonso not with Zidane or Klopp. Alvaro Arbeloa will now lead the team. World champion and two-time European champion as part of the Spanish national team with Real Madrid won the Spanish Cup twice, the Champions League twice and one national championship, so the new head coach has everything in order with his titles. But his legendary status still raises questions, given that in most final battles for trophies, the defender’s contribution was about the same as that of Matvey Safonov in PSG’s success until recently.

Alvaro Arbeloa / Photo: © James Gill – Danehouse / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Will the 42-year-old specialist, who previously worked only with the youth team of Real Madrid and with the reservists from Castilla, have enough authority for Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius and other team leaders to unquestioningly follow his instructions? There are still some doubts about this. And, judging by the reaction of the fans, many also do not understand why such a castling was needed now, and what it even was.

Watch live broadcasts of Spanish Championship matches on the TV channels of the Match group, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.