Is Alonso not worthy to lead Real Madrid?

The defeat against Liverpool in the 4th round of the Champions League exposed a truth: Coach Xabi Alonso is still far below the level that Real Madrid expects.

Coach Alonso disappointed in the loss to Liverpool - Photo: Reuters

The 0-1 result is not enough to reflect the full extent of Real Madrid's inferiority to Liverpool. Most of the football world agrees that if goalkeeper Courtois - who made 8 saves in this match - had not been so excellent, Liverpool could have won by 2-3 goals.

Real Madrid had 61% possession of the ball throughout the match, but only had 2 shots on target against goalkeeper Mamardashvili. Liverpool had 9. Not only that, Liverpool's expected goals (xG) were 2.51, while Real Madrid's were only 0.45. That means if the score was 3-0, it would be completely reasonable given the difference between the two teams.

Two powerful and dangerous shots from Szoboszlai, two close-range headers from Van Dijk and Ekitike, two close-range one-on-one shots from Szoboszlai and Gakpo. A total of six "could have been goals" were all denied by Courtois.

The Belgian goalkeeper would not have been blamed if he had failed to stop the six chances mentioned above, plus Mac Allister's header. Liverpool created seven good chances against Real Madrid, so even if they had saved half of them, they would have been fine.

But the more excellent Courtois is, the more disappointed fans are with coach Xabi Alonso. Real Madrid has many advantages over Liverpool in terms of form and force, only losing when having to play at Anfield. But what they have done is completely not commensurate with the level of a big match.

And that was not the first time Alonso and his team disappointed in big matches. In the summer, Real Madrid was crushed 0-4 by PSG in the quarter-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup, marking Alonso's first defeat as Real Madrid head coach.

Entering the season, Real Madrid lost miserably 2-5 to Atletico in the Madrid derby. The disappointment was relieved when they beat Barca 2-1 in the "super classic", but that was only a victory against a crippled Barca with Lewandowski, Raphinha, Olmo, Gavi, Stegen... absent due to injury, and Real Madrid also had home field advantage.

And now, Real Madrid have lost their third game under Alonso. Losing three out of 20 games is not a bad record. But if we only count the big games, the royal team has lost three out of four.

Alonso is young and has plenty of time, but the truth is that at the moment, he has not yet reached the level to lead the most powerful team in football history.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/alonso-chua-xung-tam-dan-dat-real-madrid-20251106081402595.htm