Real Madrid Dressing Room Splits Over Xabi Alonso Appointment as Star Trio Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, and Bellingham Spark Internal Tensions
Real Madrid squad members are reportedly split regarding head coach Xabi Alonso, who has faced challenges gaining complete team support despite maintaining strong positions in both La Liga and the Champions League during the 2025–26 season.
Following last season's letdown that led to the departure of Bernabéu icon Carlo Ancelotti, Alonso's appointment was promoted as a triumphant 'return home' for the respected Madridista.
The ex-Spain midfielder achieved everything possible during his five-year playing stint from 2009 to 2014 and had proven himself as one of Europe's premier emerging coaches through his successful tenure at Bayer Leverkusen, bringing unparalleled achievements to the German side.
Alonso inherited a revamped squad in flux before the Club World Cup—knocked out in the semifinals—yet still launched the new season with 13 victories from 14 games. Fortunes have declined recently, suffering a 1–0 defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League before managing three straight La Liga draws that dropped them behind Barcelona in the table.
Nevertheless, concerns about Alonso have existed for an extended period.
The Athletic reports that a "group of players" currently remain "skeptical" about the 44-year-old's approach. Meanwhile, others believe the coach isn't responsible for the recent struggles.
Squad discord has been speculated throughout the season, with the same article noting that Alonso's "instructions aren't reaching the players," creating clear problems. It's also indicated that certain players are "incompatible" with one another, with an insider regularly present at Valdebebas last season stating that forming a cohesive team featuring Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham is "impossible."
Ancelotti delivered remarkable success in 2023–24 when Vinicius Jr and Bellingham formed an effective partnership, capturing both the Champions League and La Liga in an uncommon double triumph. However, Mbappé's summer arrival necessitated adjustments that never fully materialized.
These problems appear unresolved, with Mbappé continuing to find the net while the other two fail to replicate their previous form. The tension between Alonso and Vinicius Jr specifically has been widely reported, with the Brazilian unhappy about his reduced influence and allegedly unwilling to extend his contract while his relationship with the manager remains strained.
The situation hasn't improved with Alonso recently forced to manage without Antonio Rüdiger, Éder Militão, David Alaba and Dani Carvajal due to different injuries, leading to seven goals conceded in the past five games and worsening the attacking coordination problems.
Galácticos 3.0 Facing Familiar Problems
With Bellingham, Mbappé and Trent Alexander-Arnold signed in back-to-back summers, this represents arguably the third Galácticos period that Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez has managed during his two tenures since 2000.
This echoes the signings of Luís Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo Nazário and David Beckham in successive years at the millennium's start, with that project eventually collapsing from excessive ambition—the transfer of the unspectacular but highly effective Claude Makélélé to Chelsea in 2003 is frequently cited as a crucial mistake due to its effect on squad harmony.
Following 2002, just prior to Ronaldo's signing, Real Madrid endured a 12-year Champions League drought.
Signing football's biggest stars hoping for sustained dominance also failed to produce expected results when Pérez returned in 2009, three years after his initial presidency concluded.
That summer, Los Blancos shattered the world transfer record twice acquiring Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo, though success remained elusive until 2013–14's eventual Décima depended equally on more modest figures like Luka Modrić and Raphaël Varane alongside Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.