
After Real Madrid dropped points for a third consecutive La Liga match, Xabi Alonso told the press: “It’s a long season.” Yet the time afforded to underperforming managers at the biggest club in the world is typically the opposite of long.
Alonso is feeling the pressure in his debut season in charge of Real Madrid. The former Bayer Leverkusen boss went from a hero’s farewell in Germany, where he made Bundesliga and European history, to carrying the weight of Los Blancos’ early season failures.