The line this summer in Spain was that Real Madrid were finally getting a Guardiola-esque coach, or for the more hardline Madridistas, a tactician. Increasingly at pains to point out that he knew a thing or two about strategy himself, five-time Champions League-winner Carlo Ancelotti had been boxed off in the ‘man-manager’ category, as had Zinedine Zidane, who won three of his own European trophies. Appointing Xabi Alonso was in part a reaction to the slackening of Ancelotti’s influence on a tiring and ageing squad, but also the falling into line with the rest of the European elites.

Forgive the forthcoming over-simplifications, but the fashionable managers of the last decade, Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, even Luis Enrique, all parted from an idea of how a game should look, before blending that with their resources. Even if Alonso has demonstrated flexibility, a willingness to play in different manners, there are non-negotiables; the pressure after losing the ball, the compactness of the side. Ancelotti started with eight names on his teamsheet and then began masticating the problem from there, with minty freshness. Alonso starts with principles and ideas. And that places him firmly in the camp alongside his other Basque contemporaries, currently dominating top-level management.

In El Clasico, that showed. Real Madrid were hungry against a ragged Barcelona, wounded. The embarassments of last season were salted and served to the players. A little extra picante from Lamine Yamal, and it was fuel not food. Yet the first 15 minutes also saw Dean Huijsen go unpunished for giveaways that betrayed his youth. A more clinical opponent might have bitten Real Madrid first.

The game changes with the movement of Eduardo Camavinga to the right side, sliding Jude Bellingham into the space behind Kylian Mbappe, where he does the most damage. Barcelona were already having trouble escaping the frothing Real Madrid hunting party, but with Bellingham inside, they began to do more than just corner their prey. From Bellingham’s sleek assist, Mbappe races in behind for the opener. Arriving covertly in the six-yard box, just as he had two years ago at Montjuic, he scored a winner covered in Bellingham branding.

At the sharp end of the criticism following the Madrid derby, both Bellingham and Alonso signed their name in the response. More than the goals, the evidence of Alonso’s chess abilities was in their domination. Between the 17^th minute, when Camavinga moved to the flank, and the hour-mark, shortly after Mbappe was thwarted by Wojciech Szczesny, Real Madrid suffocated Barcelona.

Jude Bellingham 🅰️
Kylian Mbappé ⚽️

— LALIGA English (@LaLigaEN) October 30, 2025

“It worked out well,” Alonso admitted. “Not only tactically, but also mentally. That’s the foundation for tactical success. The Clasico offers us valuable lessons for the future,” he said of a side that not only lost to Barcelona four times last year, but felt inferior.

Faced with the absences that Ancelotti had been unable to recover from, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, Alonso did exactly as Guardiola would have – he added an extra midfielder. Nobody would have questioned the selection of Franco Mastantuono, who works like one, but has the brain of a forward.

Comical then, that the criticism of Alonso that emerged earlier this week was that ‘he thinks he’s Guardiola.’ By the time Alonso appeared in front of the press again on Friday, that was the only question that he answered on El Clasico. “The matter was resolved on Wednesday,” Alonso said of Vinicius’ outburst after being taken off, but it was all anyone wanted to discuss the entire week. Another test to be passed against Valencia, when their interactions will be forensically analysed.

Just as glaringly absent as Alonso was from Vinicius’ apology, the Basque manager would not, or could not, say that Vinicius had apologised directly to him. Even if Ancelotti had fires to douse during his four years, never did the Santiago Bernabeu witness an explosion like that of Vinicius. Nor had Fede Valverde, who to date has played more under Ancelotti at right-back than with Alonso, ever put a word out of place to the press about it.

‘Cold, distant’, that was how some senior figures in the Real Madrid dressing room described Alonso to The Athletic. It was notable that after the derby defeat, internal criticism of Alonso squirreled through to the public domain in a similar tone. That such brazen lack of feeling should emerge two days after a major Clasico victory, dominant for that matter, is altogether more unexpected.

How will Alonso handle it? “[By] Being myself. The most important thing is to be genuine, not to try to pretend. Always think about what’s best for the team. Always maintain good relationships, based on respect, but understanding that not everyone is the same. You have to have emotional intelligence.”

Xabi Alonso on #Vinicius' apology in midweek.

His full response to the Vinicius drama below👇

— Football España (@footballespana_) October 31, 2025

The reason his arrival is such a departure from Ancelotti and Zidane, is that since the Italian left the first time, only Julian Lopetegui and Rafael Benitez have come out of the same ‘disciplined tactician’ box as Alonso is currently in, and neither lasted to the new year. Sergio Ramos’ wordsmithing skills have been questioned of late, but his words on the potential appointment of Antonio Conte before Lopetegui arrived still ‘clang’ when you read them – ‘Respect is earned, not imposed’.

That comparison does falter a little – neither Benitez nor Lopetegui competed at the top of the game, and neither arrived with the same backing from President Florentino Perez. By all accounts, he has more charisma too. The challenge for Alonso is to reduce that distance, and connect with a group of stars that on the whole, loved his predecessor.

El Clasico shifted things in Alonso’s favour; a real-life demonstration that his ideas can function on the big stage. It was proof of concept to those at the Bernabeu that are yet to be convinced. Dominating Barcelona is part of earning that respect, and winning is the quickest route to imposing it. When the defeats come though, Alonso will be asked to demonstrate that he learned just as much from his time under Ancelotti, as he did under Guardiola.