Xabi Alonso faces a decisive moment in his Real Madrid tenure as pressure mounts ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League showdown with Manchester City.
After Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Celta Vigo at the Bernabéu, patience among fans, players and the club’s hierarchy has worn thin. The boos that echoed through the stadium were followed by an emergency meeting among senior decision-makers, leaving Alonso’s prospects of surviving the storm increasingly bleak.
Madrid’s season has unravelled alarmingly. Four points behind Barcelona, with just one win in their past five league games, the momentum that carried Alonso through a 13-in-14 winning run earlier in the campaign has vanished.
The transformation he promised — a fast-paced, high-pressing, modern style — has brought friction rather than fluency, exposing a widening disconnect between his ideas and a squad struggling, or unwilling, to fully commit to them.
Club president Florentino Pérez has long been wary of coaches with rigid, interventionist structures. His brief experiments with Rafa Benítez, Julen Lopetegui and now Alonso, though approved under internal pressure, have all descended into instability once setbacks emerged.
In contrast, Pérez has historically gravitated toward “light-touch” managers such as Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane — figures who impose control gently and keep star-driven squads harmonious.
Inside the dressing room, tensions are rising. After the Celta defeat, frustration spilled over: raised voices, objects thrown, and an open rejection of any attempt to blame the referee.
Alonso himself criticised the officiating but admitted his team failed to execute planned adjustments in tempo, pressing and organisation. That admission — echoing earlier warnings from Ancelotti — was worrying for a club where tactical ideas must translate instantly into performance.
