Xabi Alonso, ‘one of the greatest legends of Real Madrid’, appointed as head coach

Xabi Alonso has been appointed as Real Madrid’s manager on a three-year contract. The former Madrid and Spain midfielder, who announced he was leaving Bayer Leverkusen earlier this month, will replace Carlo Ancelotti, who is becoming Brazil’s first foreign head coach.

Ancelotti led Madrid to a farewell 2-0 victory over Real Sociedad on Saturday and Alonso will now take over in time for the Club World Cup, which begins next month.

In a statement, Madrid said it “announces that Xabi Alonso will be Real Madrid’s manager for the next three seasons, from 1 June 2025 30 to June 2028. Xabi Alonso is one of the greatest legends of Real Madrid and world football.”

As a Madrid player, Alonso played 236 matches, winning the Champions League, La Liga, two Copa del Rey titles, the European Super Cup and the Spanish Super Cup. He memorably helmed Leverkusen to the Bundesliga title in the 2023-24 season, and now returns to Spain, in the words of Madrid, “as one of the best coaches in the world”. Alonso will be officially unveiled as the new manager on Monday.

After Leverkusen’s double last season, consisting of an unbeaten league campaign and victory in the German Cup, they finished second this time around, 13 points behind Bayern Munich. His last game in charge was a 2-2 draw at Mainz – the club’s 12th draw of 34 matches in the league.

Having pledged his future to the German club last summer, Alonso revealed this month: “We have agreed that these two games are going to be my last two games as a Bayern Leverkusen coach. We have been talking during this week that is always about the moment and now is the right moment to announce it.”

Juventus secure Champions League spot

Manuel Locatelli’s penalty earned Juventus a 3-2 win at Venezia to secure his side a Champions League spot and relegate the hosts, with Empoli also condemned to Serie B after a 2-1 loss at home to Hellas Verona.

Venezia got off to the perfect start with Daniel Fila putting them in front in the second minute but Juventus hit back with Kenan Yildiz levelling after 25 minutes and Randal Kolo Muani scored six minutes later as Juventus led at the break.

Ridgeciano Haps equalised for Venezia 10 minutes after the interval but Locatelli’s penalty 17 minutes from time put an end to the home side’s hope of salvation. Juventus end the season fourth in the standings, one point ahead of Roma, who have to settle for Europa League football despite a 2-0 win at Torino.

Fiorentina’s 3-2 win at Udinese means they finished sixth which gives them a place in the Conference League, after ending level on points with Lazio but with the better head-to-head record. Lazio fell to a 1-0 loss at home to Lecce, which saw the visitors, who finished 17th, secure their place in Serie A.

Two goals from Daniel Maldini were not enough for Atalanta, who let a two-goal lead slip away in a 3-2 home loss to Parma, securing the visitors’ place in Serie A next season in the last match of the campaign. Antoine Hainaut dragged Parma back into the game before Jacob Ondrejka struck twice to complete the comeback.

In Spain a rapid pair of goals by Robert Lewandowski early in the first half and a penalty by Dani Olmo deep in added time ensured a comfortable 3-0 victory for Barcelona over Athletic Bilbao, ending the season on a high note for the La Liga champions.

Union Saint-Gilloise ended their 90-year wait for the Belgian league title but had to endure a nervy afternoon before beating visitors Gent 3-1 to finish three points ahead of second-placed Club Brugge.

The Brussels club went agonisingly close in the last two seasons and faced the potential of another last-day calamity before the substitute Promise David came on in the second half to score twice in the space of seven minutes and ensure their title triumph.

Franjo Ivanovic put Union Saint-Gilloise in front before Andri Gudjohnsen equalised for Gent. But the Canadian-born David came off the bench to steer home his first in the 68th minute and then head home another in the 75th minute to kick off the USG celebrations.

Kevin Mac Allister, brother of Liverpool’s Alexis, became a champion with USG on the day his sibling received his Premier League winner’s medal.