Xabi Alonso’s stint as Real Madrid manager in the first half of last season was the most puzzling managerial spell in the club’s recent history.

The Spaniard was appointed at the beginning of the 2025-26 season, replacing Carlo Ancelotti, and things actually started well initially at the Club World Cup.

Slowly but surely, though, Xabi lost the plot and the dressing room, and resigned from his post after the Spanish Super Cup defeat against Barcelona.

He left after just 233 days in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu.

He lost six matches and maintained a win rate above 70 percent, but those numbers were not enough to satisfy Madrid’s relentless standards.

In an interview with The Athletic, Alonso reflected honestly on the disappointment of his short spell as Real Madrid coach, admitting the experience left a rare scar on an otherwise extraordinary career.

Alonso accepts responsibility for Madrid spell

Rather than blaming the club or expressing bitterness, the former Madrid midfielder described the experience as a painful lesson that has strengthened him for his new challenge at Chelsea.

“Luckily, there are not too many scars in my career,” Alonso said.

“So, OK, I got a scar, but this heals. Now it is healed, and I am very motivated and determined to enjoy this next step as I did when I started in Madrid,” he clarified.

That response says plenty about Alonso’s character. He understands that coaches at Real Madrid are judged differently.

Respectable results are rarely enough at the Spanish club, and his relationship with the dressing room was perhaps the bigger issue.

What went wrong at Real Madrid

Alonso also acknowledged that the experience forced him to examine his own decisions rather than simply focusing on the factors outside his control.

“Looking back, I take the positives and the things that didn’t work,” he said.

“I have been very critical of myself, thinking about what I could have done better because it did not go as expected.”

The Spaniard suggested the problems were not limited to one area. His adaptation, tactical ideas and relationships with the squad all formed part of the assessment.

“There are many experiences, the adaptation I had to do, some things that worked and some things that did not in terms of the game, in terms of the man-management,” Alonso added.

“It is a mixture of everything,” he concluded.

Both Madrid and Xabi have moved on

Xabi’s managerial stint at Real Madrid may not have had the highs that he enjoyed when he was a player at the club.

However, he still continues to be respectful of the club, and his words are very balanced and mature without necessarily pointing fingers.

His previous success at Bayer Leverkusen proved his coaching quality, but Madrid gave him the reality check of having to manage a bigger dressing room in every sense.

Now, as he begins a new chapter at Chelsea, Xabi will hope that the lessons he learned from here will help him do his job better in London.

The Blues have a youthful squad who could thrive under the Spanish tactician’s command, and it remains to be seen how Chelsea perform under Xabi Alonso.