The Xabi Alonso era at Real Madrid kicked off with a frustrating 1-1 draw against Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal in their FIFA Club World Cup 2025 opener. During the post-match press conference, the new head coach of Real Madrid spoke about the mistakes his team made throughout the game, but also asked for patience as he works to implement the changes he wants.
Alonso said: “The second half was much better than the first. In the first half we lacked a lot of things, we didn’t have balance. We’ve talked about that. I liked the reaction. We were able to change our rhythm, have more control, and play more in the opposition half. It’s a process. We have to take the positives and look to improve.”
“I knew it would take time. There are things we have to change. We’ll have to correct them, and we’ll keep doing that. Everything takes time, we’ve had nine days, and some players have had just three training sessions. It’s demanding, we’re in a competition, but we want to learn, and what we want to do will take time,” he said.
“The last two days he’s been ill with a virus.” – Alonso on Mbappe
Speaking of the game, Real Madrid were without the services of their star striker Kylian Mbappe, who was down with a fever. However, their young striker Gonzalo Garcia scored the opening goal in the 34th minute. Later, Ruben Neves equalised with a penalty.
In the dying minutes of the game, Madrid had a chance to seal the win through Federico Valverde, who stepped up to take a penalty. But Al-Hilal’s goalkeeper Yassine Bounou saved it, and the game ended 1-1.
Regarding Mbappe’s chances for the next game against Pachuca, Alonso said: “We don’t know. We’ll have to see how his recovery goes. The last two days he’s been ill with a virus.”
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