Xabi Alonso sends farewell warning to Madrid after player power struggles

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 13 Jan 2026 08:51 CST
• 5 min read

Nieuws

Xabi Alonso was in the Real Madrid job for around seven months before being unceremoniously sacked by the club hierarchy.

The final straw for the club, apparently, came on Sunday as Los Blancos suffered a 3-2 defeat in the Spanish Supercopa against Clasico rivals Barcelona in Saudi Arabia.

The dismissal came on Monday, while he responded on Tuesday, writing on social media:

"This professional stage concludes, and it has not turned out as we would have liked. Coaching Real Madrid has been an honour and a responsibility. I thank the club, the players and above all the fans and Madrid fans for their trust and support. I leave with respect, gratitude, and pride that I did my best."

Alonso was appointed after an excellent three-year period in charge of Leverkusen where he broke Bayern Munich's domestic stranglehold to win the Bundesliga. He is of course, a legendary Real Madrid player and seemed destined to command respect from the current batch of Galacticos.

The club are indeed off the pace in La Liga, four points adrift of Barcelona, while they are comfortable enough in the Champions League in seventh, well on course to qualify for the next round without the need for a playoff.

Alas, it is behind-the-scenes reasons that have apparently led to Alonso's dismissal and not exit by mutual consent as was reported in some areas, reports FootMercato.

Pretty much as soon as he walked in the door, there were rumours of discontent from the dressing room - and from two of the captains of the squad, no less.

The saga surrounding Vincius Junior has been ongoing as he is currently locked in talks over a new Real Madrid contract amid speculation that he could make a world-record transfer to Saudi Arabia. The Brazilian is reportedly unhappy that Kylian Mbappe is now considered the jewel in the crown following his high-profile free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain which occurred last summer.

Vinicius, for the most part, has underperformed this season and has been regularly substituted by Alonso, which only exacerbated the situation.

At one point, it seemed like Real Madrid were going to take Alonso's side and sell Vini, but player power won.

There were also issues with the highly-influential Federico Valverde. Normally a player who would do anything for the team, he allegedly expressed discontent at being made to play right-back when Dani Carvajal and Trent Alexander-Arnold were injured.

Funnily enough, both Vini and Valverde were subbed off in the Clasico.

Following the game, Madrid players seemed to ignore Alonso's orders to provide a guard of honour for the Barcelona players, with the squad apparently following Kylian Mbappe's orders to walk off the pitch instead.

Xabi’s last moments as Real Madrid’s manager 🧥

🎥 @Black_Code77 pic.twitter.com/q5rodahiYW

— 433 (@433) January 12, 2026

Alonso's warning to Real Madrid

Radio Cadena SER journalist Antón Meana outlined warnings about player power that Alonso gave the club before departing:

"After their return from Saudi Arabia, they return home with a defeat and the feeling of having played well, but also of having failed. (...) At this last meeting, during which he was fired, he made it clear to the club that he could not give so much power to the players, which he considers the main problem of his time at Real Madrid.

"The coach believes that he was left unprotected and is surprised by the club's permanent defense of the locker room. As he was accused of not controlling the locker room, he believes that it is impossible to dominate a locker room when the club is always on the side of the players and not on that of the coach, even when he is right in his sports decisions.

"What Xabi's relatives say is that he left at Christmas thinking that he could continue, that the situation could improve, that he had seen a series of encouraging signs during the last week of December, which hinted at a second part of the season where he could fight for the titles."

Alvaro Arbeloa has been put in temporary charge of Real Madrid.

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