The former Red was approached minutes before Real Madrid made the official announcement that Xabi Alonso would be leaving the club
Xabi Alonso looks pensively into the distance.
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - JUNE 18: Xabi Alonso, Head Coach of Real Madrid C. F., looks on during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group H match between Real Madrid CF and Al Hilal at Hard Rock Stadium on June 18, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) Xabi Alonso has left his position as Real Madrid manager.(Image: Getty Images)
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The football world was rocked on Monday when the premature end of Xabi Alonso's tenure as head coach of Real Madrid was announced just seven months after he took charge.
The former Liverpool and Bayern Munich midfielder left the role by mutual consent after losing the Spanish Super Cup final to Barcelona on Sunday.
Alvaro Arbeloa, a teammate of Alonso's at Liverpool and Real Madrid, was swiftly announced as the replacement at the Bernabeu. He revealed the circumstances of his appointment in his first press conference as the club's new manager.
Arbeloa said: "Yesterday afternoon [the club] communicated to me that Xabi and the club had reached a mutual agreement to go their separate ways, and that they wanted me to take the responsibility and position as first team coach.
"And it was just minutes before the official announcement was released.
"Obviously, yesterday I spoke with Xabi. Everybody here knows the relationship and friendship that I share with him: how much I appreciate him, how much I love him. I know as well that it's mutual, it has been mutual and it will continue to be mutual."
Alvaro Arbeloa faces the media in his first press conference as Real Madrid head coach.
VALDEBEBAS, SPAIN - JANUARY 13: Alvaro Arbeloa, head coach of Real Madrid, attends his press conference during the training day of Real Madrid ahead the Spanish Cup, Copa del Rey, football match against Albacete Balompie at Ciudad Deportiva Real Madrid on January 13, 2026, in Valdebebas, Madrid, Spain. (Photo By Dennis Agyeman/Europa Press via Getty Images)(Image: Europa Press via Getty Images)
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Los Blancos announced Arbeloa's appointment in the same statement in which Alonso was revealed to have left the club by mutual consent.
However, tension had been brewing for months, with the man who led Bayer Leverkusen to an 'invincible' Bundesliga season considered to be under pressure well in advance of the weekend's game.
Despite only losing five games since the start of the domestic season, rumours of a rift between Alonso and his players were rife.
The 4-0 loss to Chelsea in the Club World Cup final last summer rankled, and a run of two wins in eight games from the 1-0 defeat at Liverpool up to the 2-1 defeat against Manchester City at the Bernabeu piled further pressure on Alonso.
Arbeloa, however, preached the need for a clean slate and insisted his players won't see him as a continuity candidate, given his relationship with the former coach.
He said: "It's a new start for everyone, but a continuation of the objectives that we have for this season. And above all else is the next game against Albacete tomorrow.
"We are conscious that we have to win and of the difficulty that a knockout game entails, and I think the players are looking forward to it.
"I've seen that, despite how much they've already worked, they've shown me their excitement to have a great season and for things to go well for us."