In his first coaching job at the top level, Xabi Alonso has been handed the responsibility of turning things around at Bayer Leverkusen.
“I know Leverkusen as an excellent club from my time in Germany,” said Alonso, who has signed a deal until 2024.
“Bayer has always had great players, I also see a lot of quality in the current squad. This task excites me a lot.”
Despite a strong performance last season under Gerardo Seoane that saw Leverkusen finish third in the Bundesliga, this season Leverkusen has struggled, losing in the first round of the German Cup and managing just one win after the first eight league games.
“Unfortunately, we have strayed from the road to success,” Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes said.
“From our point of view, the early elimination from the German Cup, but especially the fact that the current position in the Bundesliga is far below our expectations, made the change of coach imperative.”
The loss to Porto in the Champions League, a result that leaves Leverkusen in second but on level points with two other teams in their group, proved Seoane’s last game in charge.
Xabi Alonso in Real Madrid colors
Time for Alonso the coach
As a player, Alonso was a Champions League winner with Liverpool and Real Madrid, and won the 2010 World Cup and two European Championships with Spain. The Spaniard spent thelast three years of his playing career at Bayern Munich.
As a coach, Alonso managed Real Sociedad’s reserve team in his home Basque region for three years until May this year. He guided them to Spain’s second tier for the first time in 60 years, before they were relegated at the end of last season. In that time, he managed a total of 98 games, winning 40 and losing 35.
In March 2021, Alonso was heavily linked to Borussia Mönchengladbach but opted to stay in Spain instead.
“With Xabi Alonso, we have signed a coach who was an absolute world-class professional as a player, an intelligent strategist and extremely successful in no less than three of the most demanding European leagues,” said Rolfes.
Alonso’s first game in charge will be at home against Schalke, just three days after his appointment.
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