As the new season approaches, player transfers and coach changes are hot topics in the market and with his excellence at Leverkusen, star Alonso has become the most sought-after coach in Europe.
Bayer Leverkusen won the Bundesliga championship for the first time in history with coach Xabi Alonso over the weekend, after a 5-0 victory over Werder in the German national championship. The most impressive thing about the 42-year-old Spanish teacher’s non-losing season so far has shocked the world of football.
La Liga giants Real Madrid have shown strong interest in signing the Alonso. German gray tiger Bayern Munich also wants Alonso in the future to replace Thomas Tuchel who leaves at the end of the season. Leading European teams such as Barca and Liverpool are eager to find ways to recruit this star coach, when they both do not continue with Xavi and Klopp in the new season.
Most recently, Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro mentioned the possibility of Alonso joining Real Madrid. He shared: “Maybe Xabi Alonso will become the coach of Real Madrid one day. I know for sure that will happen. Alonso is a great coach and we certainly want to keep him.” But in the future, who knows?”
Alonso played as a midfielder for Los Blancos from 2009 to 2014. During his time there, the Spaniard won the 2011-2012 La Liga title, the 2010-2011 Copa del Rey and 2013-2014, Super Cup 2012, and UEFA Champions League 2013-2014. Currently, Real Madrid does not need a new coach because Carlo Ancelotti’s contract with Los Blancos expires in 2026.
Meanwhile, coach Alonso was pursued by many big European clubs with special incentives, but he made a decision to shock his partners. Alonso has agreed to extend for another year with Leverkusen and he himself confirmed it with the desire to end the rumors to focus on the opportunity to conquer the Europa League this season.
Everyone acknowledges that Xabi Alonso is the person who has made great contributions to helping Leverkusen “develop so quickly”. When the new Spanish strategist took power in July 2022, Leverkusen was still ranked second from bottom. Then, in May 2023, Alonso helped the club rise to sixth place overall and win a spot in the Europa League.
The Spanish coach chose to stay at the club for at least one more season. Photo: GETTY.
This season, Leverkusen has become stronger under the “magic” of Xavi Alonso. The phenomenon in the German league moves at an unstoppable pace. Even Bayern Munich had to succumb to the destruction of coach Xavi Alonso and his team. In the past, Leverkusen had the ironic nickname “Neverkusen”, referring to their fate of only winning second place.
The reason is that Leverkusen always finished second in the Bundesliga in 5 seasons: 1996-1997, 1998-1999, 1999-2000, 200-2002 and 2010-2011. In addition, they also accepted the runner-up position in the UEFA Champions League in the 2001-2002 season (lost to Real Madrid in the final).
Leverkusen will face Borussia Dortmund in their next domestic match on April 21. Two days earlier, Alonso and his team played the second leg of the UEFA Europa League quarterfinals against West Ham at London Stadium. The first leg ended in a 2-0 win for the Bundesliga champions at their home ground, the BayArena.
