[Real Madrid](https://www.managingmadrid.com) legend Guti has come out in strong support of Xabi Alonso following Los Blancos’ heavy 4-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals of the Club World Cup in New Jersey.
The result was a bitter blow for Madridistas, who had high expectations for the team under Alonso, especially after an impressive run leading into the tournament. But Guti, speaking to _DAZN_ after the match, urged patience and defended his former teammate’s long-term vision.
> “Xabi knows that as Real Madrid manager, everything counts,” Guti admitted. “But I’m with him, I’m with him.”
The former midfielder acknowledged the disappointment but cautioned against overreacting to one result in an intense, short-format competition like the Club World Cup.
> “You can’t judge Xabi Alonso’s work in this Club World Cup by everything we’ve said,” Guti continued. “It’s true that he lets it slip, that we’ll see another Real Madrid and I’m convinced that’s how it will be.”
PSG manager Luis Enrique shared similar support to Alonso after the game:
“The gap between PSG and Real Madrid? Different situations,” Lucho said. “Xabi Alonso is new. We’ve been working on this project for two years. It’s normal.”
Alonso himself admitted that Real Madrid are still levels from where they need to be, and that seeing what happened last night was important.
“I would say PSG are at a different level to everyone,” Alonso said. “We are not the first ones to hang a strong defeat against them. Not thinking about Paris, but we have clear things we want to improve to get to that level.
“Today’s results is good for us, as we know how far we still have to go to improve. We’re just starting out. We’ve been in a competitive environment for three weeks without training, and now we need to know where we are, look at where we want to be, and prepare for it. We’ll be back in four weeks.”