After Real Madrid said farewell to Carlo Ancelotti for the second time, Los Blancos have tasked new manager Xabi Alonso with delivering the club’s 16th European crown.
Ancelotti won three of those across his two spells at the Santiago Bernabéu and is a tough act to follow. But Alonso is no stranger to success at this level. As a player, he was part of La Décima in 2013–14, while his transformative impact as a coach at former club Bayer Leverkusen was what prompted Madrid to hire him this summer—after he already turned down Liverpool last year.
