Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso has promised that he will be discussing discplinary issues with his players, following a second red card in two games for his side. After Dean Huijsen’s sending off over the weekend, Dani Carvajal found himself in trouble this week.
While Huijsen’s red card was hotly debated by Real Madrid, Alonso tacitly admitted that his captain should have known better than to be sent off.
“The expulsion was avoidable on our part, it’s a shame, and we’ll have to talk about it. The other thing is what the referee called,” he told Marca.
Arda Guler mistake is part of the process
However Alonso was far more forgiving of Arda Guler, who gave away the ball for Olympique Marseille’s goal in the first half. His view was that it was part of the learning process as he adapts to a new position.
“What I said at the Club World Cup, that we had to invest in Arda, makes more sense now. Arda was making more touches than he should have, and that’s why the mistake came. It’s no problem. He’s worth it and he’s on the right track. And I say the same about Mastantuono. I think he’s going to do well; he’s had chances…”
‘The first half hour was fantastic’ – Alonso
On a more general note, Alonso was happy with how Los Blancos performed early on, and his side’s response to Carvajal’s red card.
“A lot happened in the game. A very good, fantastic first half-hour, with pace, good pressure, and plenty of chances. We could have taken the lead but conceded. Then the game became more level. In the second half, we were pushing, not with as many chances, but I had the feeling we were working the game until Carva got complicated. We brought out the Champions League spirit at the Bernabeu, and the 2-1 we scored allowed us to defend with ten and three very important points. It’s a very important victory.”
Speaking this time to CBS, Alonso had a similar message.
“The first half an hour was really good, we played good against the ball, we recovered a lot of balls, the confidence was there, we were unlucky not to score. And the first half I was really delighted, we talked in half-time about what we were doing well, that we had to keep doing that.”
Xabi Alonso marked his first #UCL game as Real Madrid manager with a win 💫@GuillemBalague caught up with him post match 👇 pic.twitter.com/dAFTUARDsW
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) September 16, 2025
“The second half was a bit different, we wanted to build that control, but unluckily we got the red card, but the spirit did not change. And we didn’t want to just defend and see what happened. We were really ambitious, we showed a lot of strength and character to score the lead, and then a lot of maturity to see it out.”
