Xabi Alonso called out for derby tactics – “It was a bit like Ancelotti”

Real Madrid were soundly beaten in Saturday’s Madrid derby, in what was their first defeat of the 2025-26 season. It was also the first time that Xabi Alonso lost a domestic match since he was appointed as head prior to the Club World Cup in June.

Alonso has been rightly praised for his impressive start to life at Real Madrid, but on the back of the weekend defeat, he has come in for criticism. Specifically, his tactical decision-making, or lack thereof, has been questioned by Paco González on El Partidazo de Cope (via MD), who compared him to his predecessor.

“Although the intensity, courage and desire have to be put in by the player, I think that during the match he did not look for remedies. It was a bit like Ancelotti, a rather conservative thing, waiting for the players to take the game forward, since in two sporadic actions they had taken the lead.

“And he ended up putting Gonzalo on for three minutes, who was also very much Ancelotti. I thought it was going to be rearranged in a different way, to put in three centre-backs. He lacked being Xabi Alonso. It was a bit conservative.”

Three Real Madrid players singled out for criticism

Gonzalez also singled out three Real Madrid players foe criticism during his analysis, those being Alvaro Carreras, Jude Bellingham and Federico Valverde.

“For me Carreras is touched – above all, because with the ball he was defensively overtaken, him and all of Real Madrid. With the ball he was also a headache. The midfield struggled too, especially Bellingham and Valverde.”

Saturday’s match at the RiyadhAir Metropolitano will be a learning experience for Alonso and Real Madrid, who will be aiming to put things right as soon as possible when they take on Kairat Almaty in their second Champions League match of the season on Tuesday.