Real Madrid have announced they have appointed Xabi Alonso as their new head coach.
The 43-year-old has penned a three-year contract that is set to keep him at the club until 2028.
The former midfielder replaces Carlo Ancelotti, who took charge of his final game on Saturday and is now poised to take over as Brazil national team’s new manager.
Alonso will be introduced as manager at Real Madrid’s training ground on Monday, and he will be in charge for the Club World Cup in June.
With their former player at the helm, Madrid will look to make a big comeback next season.
Los Blancos endured a hugely disappointing 2024-25 campaign as they lost an incredible four times to arch-rivals Barcelona, who reclaimed the La Liga title and also won the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de Espana.
Their Champions League journey also came to an end in the quarter-finals following a 5-1 aggregate loss to Arsenal.
Alonso has received a lot of praise for his incredible work at Bayer Leverkusen, where he spent two-and-a-half seasons.
He led the German outfit to their first ever Bundesliga title in 2023-24, which was achieved without losing a single game. Leverkusen also won the German Cup in what was Alonso’s first full season.
But the former Spain international failed to replicate the successes this season as the Black and Reds finished 13 points behind champions Bayern Munich in the league table. They also could not make a deep run in the Champions League and lost to Arminia Bielefeld in the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal.
Now Alonso returns to his former team Real Madrid as manager, and it remains to be seen whether he succeeds at the greatest football club in the world.
