Real Madrid have officially announced the appointment of Xabi Alonso as their new head coach on a three-year deal, following the departure of Carlo Ancelotti. The Spaniard returns to the Santiago Bernabue – a place where he spent six seasons as a player and won numerous trophies.

Xabi signs a three-year contract which ends at June 2028. The 43-year-old current Bayer Leverkusen head coach replaced Ancelotti, who went to accept the Brazil national football team top job. Ancelotti‘s last game in charge was Real Madrid‘s 2-0 win over Real Sociedad.

It was incidentally the last game in Real Madrid shirt for Luka Modric also. Xabi is currently the head coach of Bayer Leverkusen and will leave the German club at the end of this month.

“Real Madrid CF confirms that Xabi Alonso will be the Real Madrid coach for the next three seasons, from 1 June 2025, until 30 June 2028,” the La Liga club said in a statement.

Xabi Alonso’s playing career records

One of the legends of the game, Xabi made 236 appearances for Real Madrid between 2009 and 2014, and won six titles – European Cup, one European Super Cup, one La Liga title, two Copa del Rey and one Spanish Super Cup.

For Spain, Xabi was the part of the national team that won a 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2008 and 2012 European Championships in 113 international caps.

Xabi Alonso’s records at Bayer Leverkusen

Having started his coaching career in the Real Madrid academy set-up, taking charge of the Under-12s for the 2018-2019 campaign, Xabi has come a long way in his managerial career.

He took charge of Bayer Leverkusen in October 2022 and guided them to their first-ever Bundesliga title without losing a game last season. They also won the German Cup and reached the Europa League final in the previous season.

Although, Xabi’s contract with Leverkusen was untill 2026, but the club decided to leave the Spaniard at the end of the season.