“Real Madrid on the brink of a trophyless season after mistake with Alonso.”

Real Madrid faces a historic disaster: a trophyless season and the brutal cost of Xabi Alonso’s hasty dismissal

At the start of the season, few could have imagined that Real Madrid, under the guidance of the young prodigy Xabi Alonso, would be heading towards a season without a single trophy. Considered the most promising coach in world football, Alonso seemed to have the ideal profile to restore the shine to the Spanish giant. But the club’s hasty decisions have thrown everything into disarray.

Xabi Alonso was called in hastily to take charge of the team before the Club World Cup in the United States, at a time when he was not yet fully prepared. Despite this, he began the season with an impressive run of 13 wins in 14 matches, demonstrating that the squad had potential. The humiliating 4-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-finals was attributed more to gaps in the squad than to the coach’s shortcomings.

However, the situation began to deteriorate after the historic Clásico against Barcelona. The 2-1 victory was marked by a disturbing episode: Vinicius Jr was clearly upset at being substituted, displaying a rebellious attitude that raised doubts about the stability of the dressing room. The player apologized to everyone… except for Alonso, highlighting a serious internal rift.

Despite a victory over Valencia that seemed to dispel the doubts, the team entered a results crisis with only two wins in eight matches. Alonso held on until Christmas, but the defeat in the Supercopa de España final against Barça, coupled with reports of confrontations with Kylian Mbappé and even with president Florentino Pérez, hastened his departure. In just 233 days, the best young coach in the world was dismissed – a high price for failing to manage the most influential stars in the squad.

Florentino Pérez’s haste to appoint Álvaro Arbeloa, a former defender and now coach of the B team, as his replacement only exacerbated the problem. Without even formalizing a clear contract, the former player took charge in a desperate measure that did not bring stability. The disaster in his debut match, an elimination from the Copa del Rey against the modest Albacete from the Second Division, was a foretaste of what was to come.

Three months on, Real Madrid has not improved. When Alonso left, they were four points behind Barcelona in the title race; now they are seven points adrift, with only eight matches left to play. Leadership appears to have been handed to their Catalan rivals. The team alternates between brief moments of competence and inexplicably poor performances, as seen in the games against Osasuna, Getafe, and, more recently, Mallorca.

Even the Champions League, which has so often served as a lifeline for Madrid coaches, is now under threat. The home defeat by Bayern Munich, 2-1, has made reaching the semi-finals an almost impossible task.

In retrospect, the wisest decision would have been to keep Alonso and provide him with the necessary support to silence the dissenting voices that resisted his intense, high-press style of play. Even if it meant losing players like Vinicius Jr, in the long run, it would have been beneficial.

Today, the club is adrift, with a squad clearly inferior to Barcelona’s and far from the level of the best European teams. Real Madrid urgently needs to redefine its course, but the major challenge is finding leadership capable of driving that change. The list of available coaches at the end of the season is extensive, but few fit the demanding profile of Santiago Bernabéu. The name Zinedine Zidane, while popular, seems increasingly out of the question.

The future of Real Madrid is at risk, and every decision made now could seal the fate of one of the greatest powers in world football. A season without trophies may just be the beginning of a deep crisis if there is no clear and courageous strategy in place.

This article first appeared on Apito Final.