Xabi Alonso: Real Madrid appoint Bayer Leverkusen boss as Carlo Ancelotti replacement

Alonso, a World Cup winner in 2010, took up his first coaching role with Real Madrid’s Under-14 side in 2018.

After impressing in three years in charge of Real Sociedad’s B team, his first managerial role in first-team football came when he took over at Bayer Leverkusen in October 2022.

He lifted the club from second from bottom to a sixth-place finish in the 2022-23 Bundesliga, before the following season securing the club’s first German title and becoming the first side to win the competition with an unbeaten record.

A Europa League final defeat by Atalanta represented their only defeat in 53 games in all competitions, before they completed a domestic double in the German Cup.

Alonso, a double European Championship winner with Spain, was linked with Real, Liverpool, where he won the Champions League in 2005, and Bayern last year, but said in March 2024 that he wanted to stay at Leverkusen following talks with the club’s hierarchy.

Despite losing just three times in the Bundesliga this season, Leverkusen were unable to defend their title.

Alonso’s side were knocked out of this season’s Champions league in the last 16 by Bayer Munich, while they suffered a shock loss to third-tier Arminia Bielefeld in the German Cup semi-finals.