By Michael Nsikan Richard – 11th December, 2025
Current Situation
Football Espana has revealed that Xabi Alonso finds himself on increasingly shaky ground at Real Madrid. The Spanish manager’s position was seriously threatened after his side suffered a bruising 2-0 home loss to Celta Vigo on December 7, 2025.
That evening’s result was bad enough to trigger urgent discussions, with President Florentino Perez staying at the Bernabeu well into the small hours for what insiders described as a crisis meeting.
What makes this particularly striking is that Alonso only took charge back in June 2025; we’re still talking about his debut season here.
Recent Results
Things haven’t exactly gone smoothly lately. Real Madrid have scraped together just two victories from their last 7 league outings, which represents quite a fall from grace. Remember, Alonso started brilliantly—he even picked up La Liga Manager of the Month for August 2025.
But that early promise feels like ancient history now. The Celta Vigo disaster was especially ugly, with Madrid finishing with 9 men on the pitch.
Club insiders reportedly aren’t happy about what they see as tactical disarray and the team’s struggles when things go wrong during matches.
Then came the Manchester City fixture on December 11, which everyone knew was massive. The Athletic, Cadena Cope, Cadena SER, Diario AS, and Marca all reported that Alonso’s job depended on getting something from Pep Guardiola’s team. Anything less than a win, maybe even a draw, could’ve meant the sack.
Madrid went down 2-1 to City in the end. Interestingly, though, the word afterwards was that Alonso wouldn’t be getting the chop immediately. Why? Because despite losing, his team showed some backbone and actually competed properly, which apparently counted for something.
Key Underlying Issues
Here’s the thing: it’s not just about the scorelines.
Alonso’s having real problems with some of his biggest names. The Vinicius Junior situation is particularly messy. Their relationship’s gone south ever since the summer, when Alonso apparently contemplated leaving him out of a FIFA Club World Cup semi-final.
Now the Brazilian’s supposedly saying he won’t renew his contract as long as Alonso’s around. That’s a proper standoff between manager and star player.
According to ESPN, Federico Valverde isn’t thrilled either—he’s been shoved out to right-back and clearly doesn’t fancy it. There’s also noise about Jude Bellingham’s form dropping off.
Word from inside the dressing room suggests players aren’t really grasping what Alonso wants from them tactically. Some are questioning whether he’s been too lenient recently, not putting his foot down when needed.
To be fair to Alonso, injuries have absolutely decimated his defensive options. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dani Carvajal, and Eder Militao have all been missing. But at Real Madrid, explanations don’t count for much, standards are standards, and they’re uncompromising.
Potential Replacements
Should the club decide to pull the trigger, Football Espana suggests that Alvaro Arbeloa, currently managing Real Madrid Castilla, would be first in line for a temporary appointment. Perez rates him highly, and he’s been doing excellent work with the younger players.
There’s also Zinedine Zidane floating around as an option. He’s been out of management since his last spell at Madrid ended, but he’d surely be tempted back.
Bottom Line
Let’s get some perspective here: Alonso’s only been in the job for 28 games. By any reasonable standard, that’s nowhere near enough time to properly judge someone.
His record’s actually pretty decent—70% win rate, only 3 defeats all season.
But at Real Madrid, statistics alone won’t save you. If the team looks disjointed and the manager’s lost the dressing room, results become secondary. That’s just how it works at the Bernabeu.
What happens next probably hinges on whether Alonso can steady the ship in the coming weeks and patch things up with his influential players. The Spanish Supercup in January looms large.
But make no mistake—with the board openly weighing up alternatives and the pressure cranked up to maximum, Alonso’s essentially living match to match right now. One bad result could easily be his last.
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