Xabi Alonso's last image as Real Madrid coach and also the frame summarizing the whole story of his time at the Bernabeu is the scene of another person "directing" him.
After the defeat to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final, Alonso signaled for the players to line up to welcome the victorious opponent when they stepped onto the podium to receive the cup. Kylian Mbappe protested, resolutely asking his teammates to do as he wanted. They did and Alonso did too.
That is Real Madrid's condensed version. Alonso pursues a team spirit, solidarity and proper code of conduct in sports. He is a principled person, and that moment touches on a fundamental principle: respecting opponents.
But when leading a dressing room full of stars - individuals who believe they are bigger than "the shirt", even bigger than the opponent - those principles are easily put aside.
At Real Madrid in 2026, the players were the ones with "power". Mbappe, as well as Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham, are now seen as individuals who overcome all frameworks. They are successful "brands", and Alonso, in a remarkable effort, has tried to treat them as true football players, instead of power centers.
It is undeniable that Alonso is an excellent coach. He once proved at Bayer Leverkusen that he belonged to the group of coaches with the most effective tactical thinking. Giving him a suitable squad - players full of enthusiasm and, frankly, easier to coach - Alonso can completely create something special. It is very likely that he will come to a place that is qualified to affirm that his time in Germany was not lucky.
But with Real Madrid, from the beginning, Alonso was a mismatched choice. Real Madrid, simply put, is a difficult team to coach. They are not easily "converted" into a modern team, pressing high-level like Pep Guardiola, where everything operates for discipline and absolutely prioritizes team play.
Instead, they are a collection of big personalities that must be corrected and need a leader powerful enough to keep everything within the framework.
Alonso is not that type of person. And in the end, he is obscured by the Galacticos who have always been the dominant operating system at Bernabeu.
What is coming promises to be extremely harsh for most of the people involved, except for Alonso. He tried to maintain his professional principles, but was eventually crushed and eliminated by a locker room that was once famous for being difficult to manage for Real Madrid.
It should be reiterated that this is a team that once put even Zinedine Zidane and Carlo Ancelotti under prolonged pressure. Therefore, Alonso is almost certain to find a new destination soon, most likely in the summer. Manchester United are hunting for coaches, and it is possible that Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham, even PSG may also join the race for their own reasons.
Whether directly or indirectly, Real Madrid players themselves are the factor pushing Alonso to the door of leaving. They can post thanks on social networks, can speak "right" in front of the media, but in reality this is a collective that possesses power beyond the person sitting in the coaching chair. They are the center of power, and Alvaro Arbeloa - the successor - will have to find a way to live together and control that.
Real Madrid at this time seems to need a comprehensive reorganization. They have too many stars, but lack a mechanism effective enough to put everything into common order. Real Madrid always believes they are a special club, capable of surpassing normal standards.
However, after forcing one of the best coaches in the world to leave, that belief risks becoming a double-edged sword, harming them more than giving them an advantage.
