MU Shorts
Introducing the six staff members Xabi Alonso will work with at Real Madrid
Xabi Alonso’s era at Real Madrid has already begun and will be put to the test as early as this month when the FIFA Club World Cup kicks off.
If the new manager’s ambitions were ever in doubt, his recent press conferences have gone a long way in popularising his school of thought and the changes he intends to bring about at the club.
The change in management, however, does not limit itself to the level of the head coach for Alonso has brought along an elaborate team to help him reach his objectives by putting together different aspects of the team’s preparation.
Here are the six members of Alonso’s team and the role they will play at Real Madrid.
Sebas Parrilla – Assistant Manager
Assistant coaches are perhaps the most important aspect of any manager’s team and finding an individual who shares the same vision and goals is often a bottleneck for managers. Davide Ancelotti played that role for Carlo Ancelotti, and Parrilla will play the same role for Alonso.
The 47-year-old tactician is no stranger to Spanish football and has been in the country for close to three decades now. He has worked at several levels of Real Madrid’s youth system as manager or assistant manager where he eventually met and began working with Alonso.
From there, he travelled with the coach to Real Sociedad B and subsequently Bayer Leverkusen as the assistant coach and is now returning to Real Madrid in the same position.
Ismael Camenforte – Physical trainer
Camenforte will be the physical trainer under Alonso and is qualified for the position with a degree in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences from the University of Lleida.
He worked in Barcelona’s La Masia between 2011 and 2018, then went on to pursue a new adventure in the United States before rendering his services for the Danish national team.
Having crossed paths with Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen, he now intends to continue his association with the manager at Real Madrid.
Alberto Encinas – Technical Assistant
Encinas too has a history at Barcelona’s La Masia where he worked for the Juvenil A and Juvenil B teams. Eventually, he moved to Leverkusen in 2021 where he ended up working with Alonso.
He will continue to be the manager’s technical assistant during his tenure in Madrid which is quite easily the biggest position he has had yet in the sport.
Luis Llopis – Goalkeeping coach
Llopis is a renowned goalkeeping coach and has a long history at Real Madrid in working with shotstoppers and aiding in their development.
He began his goalkeeping coaching career at Real Madrid’s U17 team before heading out for experience at Athletic Club, Mallorca, Levante and Granada. He returned to Real Madrid in the 2015-16 season and eventually left for Real Sociedad between 2018-19 and 2020-21.
Since then, he has again been with Real Madrid and will continue at the club under Xabi Alonso.
Benat Labaien – Technical Specialist
Labaien has a long CV with experience at Atletico Madrid, Parla, the Spanish U-17 National Team, Alcobendas, Fuenlabrada, Elche, Leeds, Real Sociedad, Tokushima Vortis, Al-Wakrah and Real Zaragoza.
He is a specialist at tactical and technical analysis of both the team and rival dynamics and will thus join Alonso as a critical member of the think-tank. He knows the coach from his time at Real Sociedad B and will continue his journey with Alonso in Spain.
Antonio Pintus – Performance manager
The most famous of the six members of Alonso’s team, Pintus is well-known at Real Madrid and has worked extensively with the squad in recent years. He was a part of Carlo Ancelotti’s team as well but did not leave the club with the Italian tactician.
He was the physical trainer in charge of the first team, but questions were raised after the team’s record last season and he will thus not continue in the same post.
Instead, he will be Alonso’s performance manager and will be responsible for tracking and evaluating the performances of all players.
Real Madrid will lock horns with Elche CF away at Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero later tonight in Matchday 6 of the 2026/27 La Liga season.
The Merengues are currently second in the league standings with four wins and one defeat from five games, three points behind Barcelona, who are yet to drop a single point this term, and have looked unstoppable.
Given the situation, Real Madrid know there is no room for slip-up, even though it is still very early in the season.
Jose Mourinho’s men have not been particularly convincing away from home this term, having just about managed to beat RCD Espanyol in their opening match before falling to their only defeat of the campaign against Real Betis.
The hope will be to address that issue and put in a strong performance while collecting all three points heading into the derby against Atletico Madrid later in the week.
Going into the match, Los Blancos have not received any new fitness boosts, with Eder Militao, Rodrygo Goes, and Ferland Mendy still unavailable.
However, there will likely be some rotations with an eye on the derby, and here’s how Mourinho could set his team up against Elche tonight.
Defence
Trent Alexander-Arnold has had to share minutes with summer signing Denzel Dumfries so far this season, but will be hoping to make the right-back spot his own with a convincing performance tonight against Elche.
Meanwhile, on the left, Alvaro Carreras is expected to retain his place after a brilliant display at the weekend against Rayo Vallecano, which would also allow Marc Cucurella to be protected before the derby.
At centre-back, Dean Huijsen is expected to return to the starting lineup, at the expense of Antonio Rudiger, and partner with Ibrahima Konate.
Thibaut Courtois is the undisputed starter in goal for Real Madrid and will continue his search for a second clean sheet this season.
Midfield
While Aurelien Tchouameni has returned from his injury layoff, he is unlikely to be rushed back by Mourinho. As such, the Frenchman is likely to feature off the bench once again tonight at Elche.
Instead, the double pivot pairing of Federico Valverde and Bernardo Silva is expected to take the field once again, with Eduardo Camavinga also having to settle for a spot among the substitutes.
Jude Bellingham has started all of Real Madrid’s matches so far this season and given his form and importance to the team, Mourinho will not rotate him tonight against Elche.
Attack
Yan Diomande made his first start at Real Madrid last weekend against Rayo Vallecano but failed to make the best impression.
Meanwhile, Arda Guler was once again brilliant for Los Blancos after coming on as a substitute, making a strong case for him to be reinstated to the starting XI on the right wing.
As for the left side of the attack, Vinicius Jr. will retain his place, hoping to find his best form after a rather slow start to the campaign.
Kylian Mbappe, who has now scored six goals in La Liga this season, will spearhead the attack, hoping to end his run of seven months without scoring away from home in the league.
