Last season, Xabi Alonso almost set an unprecedented record with Leverkusen when he won the treble with an unbeaten record. The BayArena team won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal with an unbeaten record. In the Europa League, they were also unbeaten until the final, before crushingly losing to Atalanta in the final match.
Currently, the future of captain Carlo Ancelotti at the Bernabeu is considered determined. The 65-year-old strategist will leave Real Madrid after the end of this season, possibly even sooner right after the Copa Del Rey final as many previous rumors have shown.
Jurgen Klopp and Xabi Alonso are the two strongest candidates. Last week, Klopp was rumored to have grown tired of Red Bull but later the parties denied it. If it were not for the fog, Alonso would be alone in the race to Bernabeu.
Xabi Alonso is quite well-positioned in the coach transfer market. He was fit enough to sit in the hot seat left by Carlo Ancelotti. As a player, Alonso had a period of top-level competition, leaving many impressions in the Los Blancos shirt. He is a former player who is loved for his personality, level and attitude.
Real Madrid fans will easily accept Alonso, but whether president Florentino Perez shares the same attitude or not is a completely different story.
Xabi Alonso is considered a very solid person in every stage of his career. When he began his coaching career, he only chose a suitable destination, Real Sociedad B. After gaining experience, Alonso took over Leverkusen. At that time, the home team BayArena was not considered a strong name in the Bundesliga. After only 2 seasons, the most brilliant glory has come, just a little bit away Leverkusen will be the first team in the history of European football to win the treble with an unbeaten record.
Many opinions have compared Xabi Alonso to Zinedine Zidane as both are former Real Madrid players. Zidane has had a truly magnificent playing and coaching career. Alonso is considered to be better than Zidane in that he has experienced many coaching environments, instead of going from assistant to head coach like Zidane at the Bernabeu.
Zidane must have real success to receive respect from the Real Madrid superstar team. Meanwhile, at Leverkusen right now, Alonso has that. If he arrives at the Bernabeu, Alonso does not need to advertise too much about himself, he may immediately be in high demand.
At Leverkusen, the pressure to achieve results only came after Xabi Alonso left with unimaginable successes. If they come to Real Madrid, any coach, no matter the class, can take the package if they do not win the Champions League. Carlo Ancelotti, despite being great and winning two Champions Leagues with the club, still has to say goodbye. Or like Zidane, even though he has won the Champions League for 3 consecutive seasons, no team in history has been able to stay in the position for too long.
Having puts on Real Madrid's royal shirt, Xabi Alonso considers himself sitting in the most pressured coaching position on the planet. Experience is there, achievements have been there but whether they can overcome all challenges to succeed for Real Madrid or not is completely different.
