Real Madrid are in worrying form at the moment, with their Champions League defeat to Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabeu adding to the pressure on their manager Xavi Alonso. In the match between Real Madrid and Manchester City, Manchester City won 2-1 and surpassed Real Madrid in the standings.

Real Madrid currently ranks seventh in the Champions League standings. However, their recent performance under Alonso has not been ideal. Real Madrid’s performance also highlighted the deterioration of Alonso’s relationship with his players.

Real Madrid status

Real Madrid’s state has been bad for some time. Real Madrid have won just two of their past eight games and lost three. Arch-rivals Barcelona are four points ahead of them in La Liga.

Injury issues also continue to pile up. Injuries to Eder Militao, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kylian Mbappe, Dani Carvajal and Eduardo Camavinga mean Real Madrid are unable to field their best squad against Manchester City.

Federico Valverde is now forced to play at right-back, while fringe players like Dani Ceballos have been playing in holding midfield. To make matters worse, star left winger Vinicius has only scored five goals in 21 games so far this season.
Rodrygo scored his first goal of the season against Manchester City.

He had to play 18 games to do that. Mbappe is in excellent form and has scored 25 goals, but he cannot drag down the team alone. Arda Gule, a young player from Turkey, has had many opportunities but has only scored 3 goals in 21 games so far.

Beyond that, Alonso’s tendency to micromanage things didn’t sit well with his players. Some players are clearly at a crossroads with their head coach. Alonso is smart enough to know that coaching Bayer Leverkusen, who won the Bundesliga title with an unbeaten record, is different from coaching Real Madrid.

Alonso should know that if he wants to win for Real Madrid, he cannot afford to lose the dressing room. The Spaniard is a former Real Madrid player himself and knows all too well what it’s like at such a big club.

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Key fixtures ahead

Real Madrid’s form must improve before they face Monaco and Benfica in the Champions League in January. They will also face city rivals Atletico Madrid in next month’s Spanish Super Cup.

With such an important game coming up, Xabi Alonso should be looking for ways to improve Real Madrid’s form. He first has to improve his relationships with his players. Otherwise, his pressure will increase and he may even be in danger of losing his job.

Now it remains to be seen whether the 15-time European champions and the world’s most successful club can get their act together. For Alonso’s sake, fans hope that the situation can be turned around as soon as possible to get their La Liga and Champions League games back on track this season.

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Credit: IMAGO / News Sports

Record date: December 10, 2025