Xabi Alonso learns Real Madrid SACK verdict

Tom Weber

• Updated: 8 Dec 2025 16:27 GMT
• 4 min read

News

Xabi Alonso is at serious risk of losing his job if Real Madrid are beaten by Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday, according to various reports.

The 44-year-old is under intense pressure following a disastrous game against Celta Vigo on Sunday. Real Madrid were beaten 2-0 on home soil, while having two players sent off.

Speaking after the match, a heated Alonso - who looked to be feeling the pressure - condemned the performance of referee Alejandro Quintero Gonzalez. However, even if it had been 11v11, Celta Vigo would have deserved to get something out of the game.

Alonso himself admitted as much, saying that his players only began to put in effort after going a man down. This was a scathing indictment of his team but also of himself.

It was recently revealed that Alonso's messages aren't getting through to the players, and there were already murmurs of a potential sacking after a dire performance against relegation-battlers Girona. These murmurs are now increasingly becoming a deafening chorus.

Alonso faces Real Madrid sack

According to The Athletic, and also corroborated by various Spanish outlets, Alonso is at serious risk of losing his job should Real Madrid taste defeat against Man City in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Sources with knowledge of the crisis meeting held by club bosses, including Florentino Perez and Jose Angel Sanchez, are unanimous that Alonso is facing the axe, potentially as early as this week.

While the general feeling is that club chiefs want to continue to back Alonso, results are deemed more important than the attachment to the former player and his project.

The Real Madrid hierarchy believes that the players are also to blame for the current crisis. Inevitably, in such a situation, it is the coach who has to pay the price, especially as there appears to be no indication that the tension between Alonso and some of his players is easing.

Real Madrid Castilla head coach Alvaro Arbeloa could be promoted to the senior role should Alonso indeed lose his job, although Real Madrid also have other names on their shortlist.

Perez remains a big admirer of Zinedine Zidane, for example, but yet another return to the club looks unlikely as things stand, with the Frenchman poised to replace Didier Deschamps as France boss after the World Cup.

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