Having come to revive Real Madrid, Xabi Alonso saw his ambitious collective project come to a brutal end on Monday, the day after the defeat in the Spanish Super Cup against Barça, after only eight months on the bench, where his former teammate Alvaro Arbeloa will take over.

Upon his arrival at the end of May 2025, the Basque manager wanted to "build a great team," capable of bringing the Spanish giant back to the pinnacle of world football and joining his predecessors Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane in the Real Madrid pantheon. Ultimately, Xabi Alonso will find himself alongside his former Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez and the unfortunate Julen Lopetegui, both also dismissed prematurely after strings of poor results (in 2016 and 2018).

This fifth defeat of the season, on Sunday against Barça (3-2) in Saudi Arabia, was therefore the final straw for the former midfielder and strategist of the Spanish national team, a victim of the numerous injuries and inconsistency of his players, and carried away by the extreme demands of the White House.

Real Madrid's situation, second in La Liga four points behind FC Barcelona, and well on their way to finishing in the Top-8 of the Champions League group stage, which would mean direct qualification for the round of 16, is far from disastrous.

But the results, and especially the collective level displayed by the Madrid giant, are generally considered insufficient in the Spanish capital, where two consecutive defeats can cost a coach his job.

"It was a pleasure to play for you and learn alongside you. Thank you for your trust from day one. I will remember you as a coach with clear ideas and who knows a lot about football. Good luck in the next chapter of your career," Kylian Mbappé reacted on his Instagram account, followed by 129 million people.

Contested meritocracy

The tactical revolution promised by Alonso during the Club World Cup in the United States never really took off, despite a very encouraging start with 13 wins out of the first 14 matches.

The last image left by his team, close to equalizing in the final minutes to force a penalty shootout, will be that of a team without a playing identity or a clear idea, far from the "Rock'n Roll" and "meritocracy" he wanted to establish.

Despite a collective resurgence against Manchester City (2-1 defeat), followed by five consecutive victories, the 2010 world champion could not get out of the same impasse as his predecessor Carlo Ancelotti, unable to manage an armada of stars with outsized egos, perhaps unaccustomed to the gentle method and the father-son relationship they had with the Italian tactician.

"Xabi Alonso will fall sooner or later, but the failure will be more Real Madrid's than his own. Because the problem will persist and it is nothing other than a corrupt dressing room settled into comfort," judged the sports daily Marca in early December.

Many observers of the club believe that the current results are also - and above all - the responsibility of the management, who have built an unbalanced squad, without replacing legends Toni Kroos, who retired in 2024, and Luka Modric, now at AC Milan.

Arbeloa to the rescue

With no coach of Xabi Alonso's caliber available on the market, the Merengue executive turned to an internal - and surely temporary - solution by appointing Alvaro Arbeloa, Alonso's former teammate, a world champion in 2010 and current coach of the reserve team.

A rather logical choice, since the names of legend Zinedine Zidane, announced as the next coach of the French team after the 2026 World Cup, and of the German Jurgen Klopp, director of global football within the Red Bull group, had quickly been dismissed.

The 42-year-old former right-back will have the daunting task of trying to revive Real Madrid, who could be heading for a second consecutive season without a major title despite Kylian Mbappé's exceptional individual statistics, having scored 29 goals in 25 matches. He must also avoid another Galáctico debacle.