TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Real Madrid announced Xabi Alonso as the new head coach replacing Carlo Ancelotti on Sunday, May 25, 2025. The 43-year-old Spanish coach has signed a contract for the next three seasons and will be introduced to the public on Monday.
"Real Madrid C.F. confirms that Xabi Alonso will be the head coach of Real Madrid for the next three seasons, from June 1, 2025, to June 30, 2028," the Spanish club stated on its official website on Sunday.
Alonso will lead Real Madrid at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States from June 14 to July 13. This will be the first time the tournament is held with 32 participating teams. Los Blancos are in Group H alongside Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia), Pachuca (Mexico), and Red Bull Salzburg (Austria).
As a player, Alonso made 236 appearances for Real Madrid. He also began his coaching career at the academy of this Spanish league club. Now, he returns after three years in charge of Bayer Leverkusen, where he led the team to its first-ever Bundesliga title in the 2023–2024 season.
Alonso replaces Carlo Ancelotti, who left Santiago Bernabeu after a disappointing 2024–2025 season without a major trophy. Real Madrid lost out to Barcelona in both LaLiga and the Copa del Rey and were eliminated in the Champions League quarterfinals.
Ancelotti, who returned for a second spell as Real Madrid head coach in 2021, had been under pressure following a poor season that included a 5–1 aggregate loss to Arsenal in the Champions League, a 3–2 defeat to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final, and failure to keep pace with Barcelona in the LaLiga title race.
The 65-year-old Italian coach bid farewell to fans after Real Madrid’s final LaLiga match of the season against Real Sociedad at the Bernabeu on Saturday, which ended in a 2–0 win.
Real Madrid had long identified Alonso as a long-term managerial target after closely following his progress at Bayer Leverkusen. The former Spanish international took over the struggling Bundesliga team in October 2022 when they were in the relegation zone. He transformed the squad and led them to two domestic titles, going unbeaten in 2024, according to ESPN.
This season, Xabi Alonso guided Leverkusen to second place in the Bundesliga. In the Champions League, they were eliminated by Bayern Munich in the round of 16.
Alonso enjoyed a highly successful playing career, starring for Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich. With the Spanish national team, he was part of the squads that won the 2010 World Cup and two European Championships.
He joined Real Madrid in 2009, winning LaLiga and two Copa del Rey titles, and earned a Champions League medal under Ancelotti in 2014.
After three years at Bayern Munich, he retired as a player in 2017. He began his coaching career with Real Madrid’s academy staff, then managed the club’s B team from August 2018 to June 2022. He took over at Bayer Leverkusen in October 2022.
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