Xabi Alonso’s glittering Real Madrid playing career offered no protection for their new coach against the harsh spotlight of expectation on Wednesday, as they laboured to a deflating 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal in their Club World Cup opener.
The result laid bare the task facing the 43-year-old Spaniard, who will be expected to conjure instant success after swapping Bayer Leverkusen for the pressure cooker of 15-time European champions Madrid.
“We know things take time, we need to correct a few details, everything takes time it’s been only nine days of work for me here,” Alonso told a press conference after watching his depleted squad struggle against opponents they were expected to dispatch with ease.
With captain Dani Carvajal and centre backs Antonio Ruediger and Eder Militao absent, Real’s defensive fragility was exposed despite the summer additions of Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The former Liverpool player looked particularly uncomfortable, failing to provide his trademark attacking threat while repeatedly being exposed by Al-Hilal’s marauding Brazilian fullback Renan Lodi.
A clumsy penalty conceded by Raul Asencio compounded Real’s defensive woes, allowing the Saudi side to cancel out academy product Gonzalo Garcia’s opener.
Forced to innovate without the ill Kylian Mbappe and injured Brazilian teenager Endrick, Alonso’s attacking options were limited.
The 21-year-old Gonzalo, thrust into the spotlight, scored once but spurned several opportunities that could have settled the contest.
Tactically, Alonso appeared to defer to Real Madrid tradition by abandoning the three-centre-back formation that defined his Leverkusen success, instead deploying a 4-3-3 reminiscent of Ancelotti’s reign.
One bright spot was Jude Bellingham’s deeper, more central role, stepping into the creative void left by Toni Kroos’s retirement a year ago.
Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo also showed flashes of threat, but ended up succumbing to the sweltering Miami heat.
With Mexican side Pachuca looming on Sunday before a final group clash with RB Salzburg, Alonso faces a race against time to impose his vision on a squad accustomed to immediate success.
For a club that measures achievement only in trophies, the pressure is immediately on Real Madrid’s newest galactico – the one in the dugout.
