Xabi Alonso spent only a few months on the Real Madrid bench. © ANSA / SERGIO PEREZ

Real Madrid bombshell! Xabi Alonso fired.

Xabi Alonso is already history after just over half a year at Real Madrid.

12 January 2026

From: dpa/dl

As Spain's record football champions announced on Monday, the 44-year-old's contract was terminated by mutual agreement. Alonso, who himself once played for Real Madrid, joined the Royal Club in the summer of 2025 after a successful stint managing Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga.

Alonso's successor is Álvaro Arbeloa, who took over Real Madrid's reserve team last summer. Before that, the 42-year-old, who also enjoyed many successes with the club as a player, worked in Real's youth academy.

Former Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa will succeed Alonso. © APA/afp / FRANCK FIFE

Real Madrid reacted to their sporting crisis: In addition to losing the Super Cup final against Barça on Sunday (2-3), they are also trailing Hansi Flick's team in the league. The gap is four points. And in the Champions League, the Madrid side are only seventh, facing the prospect of the playoffs.

No brilliance in the real game

Although the record champions had recently stabilized somewhat in the league, their performances were still far from convincing. The 2-3 defeat against Barcelona was apparently one loss too many for the success-spoiled and flamboyant president, Florentino Pérez. After all, the squad, featuring Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Junior, Antonio Rüdiger, and others, was expected to meet the highest standards. Reports indicate that a crisis meeting of the club's management was already held after the 0-2 defeat against Celta Vigo at the beginning of December.

Alonso was Leverkusen's coach from October 2022 until last summer. With Bayer, he won the DFB Cup in the 2023/2024 season and also the German championship in spectacular fashion, without a single defeat.

First a dream start, then a downward spiral

Real Madrid signed their former professional player as coach with correspondingly high expectations. And initially, everything looked like a success story: After reaching the semi-finals of the Club World Cup, Alonso celebrated 13 wins in the first 14 competitive matches at the start of this season. It was the best start to a season Real Madrid had ever had.

The temperamental Vinicius Junior reportedly had problems with Alonso. © APA/afp / FADEL SENNA

But it was at his former club, Liverpool FC, in the Champions League at the beginning of November that the Spaniard's downward spiral began with the star-studded squad. He was never able to turn things around.