Club World Cup: Can Xabi Alonso Return Real Madrid to Winning Ways?

Real Madrid looking to rebound after a disappointing year

While Real Madrid were able to capture the UEFA Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup last season, the campaign would ultimately go down as a failure. Los Blancos failed to win at least one of either La Liga, the Copa del Rey or the Champions League for the first time since the 2020-21 season.

They were outclassed the whole way by Barcelona and would wind up conceding a total of 16 goals to the Catalan club in their four Clasicos throughout the year. To rub salt in the wound, Barcelona directly beat out Real Madrid in three competitions (La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Spanish Supercopa).

As they get ready to kick off their 2025 Club World Cup campaign, there are plenty of questions as to how this team will look under new manager Xabi Alonso. As you can read about in our Real Madrid vs Al Hilal prediction, our experts are anticipating a strong start for the Galacticos.

High expectations and high pressure for Alonso

Xabi Alonso arrives at the Bernabeu with high expectations given the roaring success he had at Bayer Leverkusen. The former Liverpool, Bayern and Real Madrid midfielder masterminded one of the finest seasons in European football history, taking Leverkusen on a 51-match unbeaten streak across all competitions in 2023-24. This would see him claim the Bundesliga title and the DfB Pokal in the same year, while also making the final of the Europa League.

Xabi Alonso manager profile

Preferred formation: Primarily a 3-4-2-1 / 3-4-3 shape. However, was known for also adjusting depending on opponents, even fielding back four systems from time to time. This has led to many believing he will implement a 4-3-3 at Real Madrid. We’ll learn a lot about his approach for the season in these coming Club World Cup matches.

Style of play: Alonso’s Leverkusen side was known for its attacking football that liked to overload one side, draw the opposition in then quickly switch the play to exploit the space created. On defense, they would implement a counter-press, focused on forcing the ball out wide and aggressively closing down the opposition full backs. Favoured intricate play around the box rather than whipping in crosses. It should also be noted Leverkusen’s excellent defensive record during Alonso’s time in charge. They conceded just 0.88 goals per game on average in the last two Bundesliga seasons combined.

Manager accolades and career highlights:

• 2023-24 Bundesliga champions (unbeaten)
• 2023-24 DFB Pokal champions
• 2023-24 Europa League runners-up
• Longest unbeaten streak in history in Europe’s top 10 leagues (51 matches)
• 2024 German Super Cup champions

Find out more about the Club World Cup

2025 Club World Cup: Group H competition

Madrid aren’t expected to have too much trouble in the group stage of the 2025 Club World Cup and it would come as a big shock if they didn’t finish top. With RB Salzburg and Al Hilal appearing to be evenly matched, it will be interesting to see which of those sides is able to pose the biggest challenge for the five-time winners of this competition.

Here is Madrid's schedule for the group stage (all times British Summer Time):

• Vs Al-Hilal - June 18, 20:00
• Vs Pachuca - June 22, 20:00
• Vs RB Salzburg - June 27, 02:00

Real Madrid’s squad: players to watch out for in the 2025 Club World Cup

While players like Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham will of course attract plenty of attention during the 2025 Club World Cup, we wanted to delve a bit deeper into the team for some of the captivating storylines to keep an eye on.

Dean Huijsen

The Madrid faithful will be very eager to see their new star signing in action. The Dutch-born Spaniard made the move over from Bournemouth for a fee of almost €60 million earlier this month. With Los Blancos dealing with a number of injuries to the back line, we’re almost certain to see Huijsen make his debut in the team’s opener against Al Hilal.

The rangy 20-year-old clocks in at 1.96m, is comfortable with the ball at his feet and possesses excellent passing range. At only 20 years of age, he’s right up there with the very best at the position for his age bracket.

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Only the seventh Englishman in history to don the famous white jersey, Trent Alexander-Arnold made the switch to Madrid in a €10 million transfer. He spent 20 years at Liverpool from the academy to the first team and won everything possible at the club level there. It will certainly be interesting to see how Alexander-Arnold gets on with his teammates and how his playstyle suits the 15-time Champions League winners.

Arda Guler

The Turkish jewel Arda Guler had a strong 2024-25 season as he continued staking his name for regular first team minutes. Naturally, breaking into a front three which includes Mbappe, Vini Jr and Rodrygo is going to be tough, but there are plenty of games to go around with the amount of competitions that Madrid are involved in. The Club World Cup could, therefore, provide the 20-year-old with a good platform to win favour with the new manager with some high-level performances. Guler made 43 appearances across all competitions for Madrid last season, registering five goals and adding eight assists.

Read our Real Madrid vs Al Hilal prediction