Xabi Alonso has already re-shaped Real Madrid during Club World Cup run

There were only 18 days between Xabi Alonso’s first day on the job as Real Madrid manager and his first match in charge. Ordinarily, the Spaniard would have had several weeks to get his feet under the desk at the Santiago Bernabeu. This summer, though, Alonso had to contend with the Club World Cup.

The expanded tournament has made things trickier for Alonso. He has been hired to remould a Real Madrid team that lacked an identity under Carlo Ancelotti last season. Having to play games at the Club World Cup during this transitional period has been a challenge. And yet there have been signs of progress.

Real Madrid got off to a slow start at the 2025 Club World Cup, drawing 1-1 against Al-Hilal. The Saudi Pro League outfit had the opportunities to win the match as Los Blancos struggled to find the right balance all over the pitch. At that point, it seemed likely that Alonso’s process would be a slow and painful one.

Since then, though, Real Madrid have very much had the look of a quintessential Alonso team. The Spanish giants are now just two wins away from winning the first expanded Club World Cup, with a semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain looming on Wednesday. A Real Madrid victory would certainly prove they are heading in the right direction.

Alonso has quickly recycled the 3-4-3 formation that worked so well for him at Bayer Leverkusen, pushing his wing backs high and wide to stretch the pitch. After being deployed in a more central role on his debut against Al-Hilal, Trent Alexander-Arnold has been deployed in a position similar to the one he performed for Liverpool.

Fran Garcia has been one of the standout performers for Real Madrid at the Club World Cup, with Alonso’s system getting the best out of a player who struggled to find consistency under Ancelotti. While Real Madrid might have previously been in the market for a new left back, the 25-year-old already on their books is proving his worth.

Arda Guler has also been used in an unexpected way by Alonso with the Turkish international operating in central midfield. Real Madrid will say goodbye to Luka Modric at the end of the Club World Cup and Guler has shown enough in his last few performances to suggest he could be the Croatian’s long-term successor. 

Then there’s Gonzalo Garcia, the young forward who has netted four goals at the Club World Cup for Los Blancos. Few expected Garcia to play a prominent role for Real Madrid this summer, but Kylian Mbappe’s illness opened the door for the former Castilla striker to make an impression and he has more than made the most of his opportunity. 

Garcia is the sort of penalty box poacher Real Madrid have lacked since Joselu left the club 12 months ago. Mbappe will ultimately come back into the lineup, but Garcia’s emergence says something about how Alonso wants to establish a pathway between the Real Madrid first team and the academy. 

Ancelotti was hugely successful as Los Blancos boss, but there was a growing sense that his team was falling behind the curve at the top of modern soccer. Alonso has been appointed to modernise Real Madrid and that process is already happening with progress happening from match-to-match.

“One of the main objectives was to play closer together, be compact and know when to attack and defend,” said Alonso when explaining the way Real Madrid have improved over the course of the Club World Cup. “To make the distances more effective and not too big. That was the main objective and we’re improving and progressing.”

Club World Cup glory would hint that Real Madrid are heading in the right direction, but the true test of Alonso’s progress will come next season when Los Blancos will be expected to regain their Spanish title from Barcelona. They will be expected to compete for the Champions League too. The early signs have certainly been positive.