Xabi Alonso’s first Real Madrid game analysed: Alexander-Arnold’s debut but no Mbappe

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Real Madrid’s new era under Xabi Alonso began with a 1-1 draw against Al Hilal, the teams’ Club World Cup opener played out in stifling heat in Miami.

It was the first glimpse of Madrid in action since Alonso’s appointment, and it revealed signs of progress, but it is clear there is still plenty of refinement to do.

“Whoever thought everything was going to work perfectly…,” the head coach reflected at a press conference. “We knew what things were going to work well and others that we have to keep working on to improve.”

The Athletic analyses the main talking points as the Spanish side got their tournament under way.

Debuts for Huijsen and ‘Trent’ but no Mbappe

One of the big unknowns before this game was the system Alonso would use. The Athletic had reported the plan was not to keep the three-centre-back defence that gave him so much joy at Bayer Leverkusen, something that became clear with his first line-up.

Confirmation came with the starting XI about 90 minutes before the game. That was news in itself — for much of the four years with Carlo Ancelotti in charge, the club had decided to publish the line-ups (even in the 2024 Champions League final) two hours or more in advance to avoid the press doing it instead.

This XI had special details, such as the debut of Dean Huijsen, who impressed a lot with the ball, and Trent Alexander-Arnold (wearing ‘Trent 12’ on his back), still in the process of settling in.

Trent Alexander-Arnold made his Madrid debut (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

But the line-up was above all marked by the absence of Kylian Mbappe, who had been suffering from a fever since Monday afternoon and Alonso made no assurances he will play against Pachuca on Sunday.

With Endrick injured for the entire tournament, the natural solution was Real Madrid Castilla striker Gonzalo Garcia. Or not so natural, because the consensus is Ancelotti would not have picked Endrick had he been available, let alone Gonzalo.

This bet by Alonso meant that players such as Brahim Diaz, Luka Modric and Dani Ceballos were substitutes.

And it worked, as Gonzalo scored to give his side the lead. “I’m quite happy for Xabi to give me the opportunity,” said the man of the match afterwards.

Alonso used a sort of 4-3-3 but it did not work perfectly. Al Hilal were able to reach Madrid’s penalty area fairly easily, while Madrid’s build-up play was not always cohesive and they were at times disjointed in the final third.

Guler makes his case for a starting spot

The scenario began to change in the second half.

“What did Xabi tell us at half-time? That we should keep working and having the ball and the chances would come,” Huijsen said in the mixed zone.

Raul Asencio, who had conceded the penalty which allowed the Saudi side to equalise, did not reappear for the second half because he had been on antibiotics for several days.

He was replaced by Arda Guler, who provided more evidence to those who see him as a starter this season. The Turk played further back than in his earlier days at Madrid, in line with where Ancelotti had put him recently.

With Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba injured, Aurelien Tchouameni had to play at centre-back. It is a position in which Ancelotti used him a lot due to injuries, despite the fact the Frenchman has expressed in public and in private that he does not feel comfortable there.

One strange note was for Ceballos, the only senior first-team outfield player who did not get minutes.

Waiting for Vinicius Jr…

If Madrid’s improvement did not bring with it a victory, it is because their star players were not at their best.

In the absence of Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham did not step up, although it is true the Englishman was moved deeper into midfield than he has often played while in Spain. Rodrygo did provide the assist for Gonzalo’s goal but he was also less effective than he can be. The Brazilian played for the first time since the Copa del Rey final (April 26) amid doubts about his future.

Vinicius Jr showed only sporadic glimpses of the spark he can bring.

It was a difficult match for him: he was shown a yellow card for an unnecessary dive, did not manage an effort on target, shot wide once, completed two of five dribbles, won no fouls and lost possession 11 times.

As Alonso revealed, Vinicius Jr was changed in the second half because he had cramps.

Alonso as tired as the players

Alonso is a coach who lives the matches very intensely. He was on his feet from the start, and in the second minute, after a Thibaut Courtois save, he was already way outside of his technical area giving instructions.

This would be repeated often during the match: in a stoppage for a blow to Federico Valverde to talk to Bellingham, in the breaks for hydration to help other players or with Tchouameni during the process of reviewing a penalty decision.

Alonso talks to his players during a cooling break (Sven Hoppe/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)

He moved around so much that, due to the high temperatures in Miami, he had to ask for a wet towel to cool off in the second half.

At the end of the game, he immediately high-fived members of his staff and went to console Valverde, who had failed to score the penalty that would have won the game.

Speaking of the staff, some changes and details were clear. The person leading the warm-up before and during the matches was Ismael Camenforte, the physical trainer brought in by Alonso. In both situations, Antonio Pintus, now named performance manager but whose presence has been significantly reduced, remained on the bench.

The importance of Sebas Parrilla, the assistant coach, was also evident. At set pieces, both in attack and defence, he came off the bench to supervise and give instructions.

(Top photo: Sven Hoppe/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)

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