MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - JUNE 18: Xabi Alonso, Head Coach of Real Madrid C. F., looks on during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group H match between Real Madrid CF and Al Hilal at Hard Rock Stadium on June 18, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) Xabi Alonso has left his position as Real Madrid manager.(Image: Getty Images)

The football world was rocked on Monday when the premature end of Xabi Alonso's tenure as head coach of Real Madrid was announced just seven months after he took charge.

The former Liverpool and Bayern Munich midfielder left the role by mutual consent after losing the Spanish Super Cup final to Barcelona on Sunday.

Alvaro Arbeloa, a teammate of Alonso's at Liverpool and Real Madrid, was swiftly announced as the replacement at the Bernabeu. He revealed the circumstances of his appointment in his first press conference as the club's new manager.

Arbeloa said: "Yesterday afternoon [the club] communicated to me that Xabi and the club had reached a mutual agreement to go their separate ways, and that they wanted me to take the responsibility and position as first team...