Xabi Alonso Sacked After Barcelona Win Super Cup
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Coming up on today's show, Barcelona crown Spanish Super Cup champions after a thrilling El Clasico match against Real Madrid. Back in Spain, Villarreal picked up an important three points to keep the pressure on at the top of La Liga with a comfortable win against Alaves. Espanyol, however, couldn't capitalise as they were held to a draw against relegation-threatened Levante. Stay tuned for all the action.
Hello and welcome to the Rest is Football La Liga episode with Alex Aljo and me, Gary Lineker.
What led to Xabi Alonso's sacking from Real Madrid?
Well, Alex, we've been thrown a curveball here because we actually, we're now recording this on... Monday evening, and the news has broken that Xabi Alonso has parted company with Real Madrid, the club have issued a statement. I'll read that in a minute. So we actually recorded most of the podcast this morning, but I know you're on a night out, Alex, but you were good enough to jump on for five minutes to discuss this. the situation because obviously the club was completely inconsiderate towards our podcast. And so it would have been slightly dated if it had gone out as it currently is. So what we'll do, we'll talk about the Alonso situation now, and then we'll hand over to the rest of the podcast where we discussed obviously the
Super Cup game in which Real Madrid lost to Barcelona by three goals to two and subsequently, um, few La Liga matches that took place this weekend. But, um, Obviously, it's been muted for some time. He was under pressure. Then he lost this particular Classico, although it was in style. I thought it was a cracking game of football. Are you surprised?
Yeah, really, really surprised. Massive shock. I've heard most of the Real Madrid fan base in shock as well. Nobody saw this coming. I was saying on the podcast earlier that They played well. There were loads of positives to take from the game. It's not like they got thrashed by Barcelona. Had they been thrashed by Barcelona, I would have said, of course, yes, it's the end of Xabi Alonso. That would have been the front page of marker and ass this morning. But it wasn't. It was a good performance and it seems like they're building something good there. So, yes, a huge shock. I have been speaking to people in Madrid that know more than I do right now. And they were saying the issue was the respect wasn't there.
So, actually... Respect from who to who? The players towards Xabi Alonso. Oh, wow. As a manager, because obviously we've spoken about how good he was as a player and how all the players, I'm sure, have a huge amount of respect for him in that sense. But I've heard that during this trip to Jeddah, the players weren't taking things overly seriously and then walking out of video sessions and not wanting to listen to Xabi Alonso and... And anything he had to say, which is obviously the beginning of the end when your players aren't listening to the manager.
If you lose the dressing room.
Of course. And I think that's what they were saying. An example is I was there at the Classico back in October when Vinicius Junior wasn't happy about coming off the bench and he made it very clear. And he should have been benched for the next game. You know, the way he spoke to his manager in front of everyone that day. And it was not a good look and he should have been disciplined. He should have been benched. But Xabi Alonso did not have the power to bench him the next game, which was against Valencia. So I think he started that game. Double check that.
So you're saying when he said he didn't have the power to bench him, you think powers that be from above, the opressions have said to him, no, you can't do that.
We're talking about Florentino Perez here overruling Xabi Alonso, who I'm sure wanted to You bench Vinicius because you can't behave like that, can you? The way Vinicius Jr. behaved that day. But from what I heard, these talks were already happening prior to the trip to Jeddah, before the new year. I'm actually hearing that he's being linked to Liverpool.
They have got a coach that won the league last season. I mean, this is a mad world though.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:44
2
What led to Xabi Alonso's sacking from Real Madrid?
0:44–6:10
3
How did the Super Cup match between Barcelona and Real Madrid unfold?
6:10–7:08
4
What were the standout performances in the Super Cup final?
7:08–7:41
5
What does Hansi Flick's success mean for Barcelona's future?
7:41–10:08
6
Can Villarreal mount a title challenge in La Liga?
10:08–16:08
7
What impact does the managerial change have on Real Madrid's season?
16:08–34:35