Johannesburg – After the 3-2 loss to arch-rivals Barcelona FC in the Super Cup, Real Madrid has sacked Xabi Alonso and replaced him with Álvaro Arbeloa.
In a statement on Monday, 12 January 2026, Real Madrid said Alonso had left “by mutual consent,” and Arbeloa will be the new first-team coach.
Arbeloa has been the coach of Castilla since June 2025 and has spent his entire coaching career in Real Madrid’s youth academy since 2020.
He coached the Under-14s A in the 2020-2021 season, winning the league title, the Under-16s in the 2021-2022 season, and the Under-19s from 2022 to 2025.
As coach of the Under-19s, he won the treble in the 2022-2023 season (League, Copa del Rey, and Champions Cup) and the League in the 2024-2025 season.
As a player, Arbeloa was part of Real Madrid during one of the most successful periods of the club’s history.
“He defended our shirt between 2009 and 2016, in 238 official matches,” the statement said.
“During that time he won 8 trophies: 2 European Cups, 1 Club World Cup, 1 Uefa Super Cup, 1 LaLiga title, 2 Copa del Rey trophies and 1 Spanish Super Cup.”
With the Spanish national team, Álvaro Arbeloa was also part of a historic era, in which he won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and 2 European Championships (2008 and 2012). He was capped 56 times.
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