Xabi Alonso reflects on his Real Madrid departure

Xabi Alonso spoke about leaving Real Madrid in an interview with Jamie Carragher. During the summer, he had accepted the Chelsea coaching job. His departure from the Madrid club came in January, bringing his time there to an end while the season was still under way.

Real Madrid had made Alonso its major choice after Ancelotti’s departure. But after losing to Barça in the Spanish Super Cup final, the club ended his tenure. Alonso reflected on the timing of the split and the uncertainty around how things might have ended: “I’m left with the feeling that it ended a little earlier than expected, without knowing whether it was going to end well or badly. It was halfway through the season, when we were still fighting in La Liga and the Champions League.”

In his account, that sense of an experience cut short did not mean he looked back on the club with anger. He also described what it was like to manage in Madrid: “Managing in Madrid is an experience. Madrid is special in every way. It is a little different from other clubs in every respect. I learned from that, and I don’t look back angrily. I look back and think: well, I tried, I tried to give my best.”

The interview also addressed his decision to take charge of Chelsea. Alonso said he had no prior connection with the club, but its potential persuaded him that they could build something together. “Some things could change, and I thought we could start this journey together,” he said.

He described the move as a matter of timing, following his spells at Leverkusen and then Madrid. “For me, it was the right moment after Leverkusen. After Madrid, I had some time off and wanted to find that good feeling, that good connection about where to go,” he added. His reflections frame his Real Madrid departure as a chapter he believes ended too soon, but one from which he says he learned before choosing his next destination.