Details of Xabi Alonso meeting with Real Madrid stars before Olympiakos tie revealed | OneFootball

Real Madrid snapped their three-game winless run with a 4-3 win over Olympiakos on Wednesday night, but the headlines came after the game. To a man, Real Madrid’s stars have come out with a message of unity, while Xabi Alonso spoke of ‘progress made before the game’, after plenty of reporting that he did not see eye to eye with a number of his stars.

This week it was reported that Alonso’s relationship with some of his players was becoming ‘unsustainable’, with Fede Valverde, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham cited as some of the stars that were unhappy with him. However after the match, Vinicius was seen hugging Alonso, while Valverde took to social media to send a message of unity.

Real Madrid hierarchy back Alonso

Ahead of the game, Marca and Diario AS both published articles explaining that the Real Madrid hierarchy were behind the Basque manager. ‘Alonso is the boss’ was the message sent not only publicly, but also internally, and despite their drop in form, they assured that he was the manager they felt best equipped to lead the team in the coming years. It was a message also backed by the President Florentino Perez.

Image via Stephane Mahe / Reuters

Alonso holds meetings with players

It was first revealed by El Chiringuito, and then corroborated by AS, that Alonso has also changed his attitude in recent days. Holding conversations both in person and over text in the days since their 2-2 draw with Elche, Alonso has been asking the players in groups of three or four what he could improve. Before the Olympiakos match, perhaps the progress Alonso would later refer to, Alonso spoke with six or seven of the dressing room heavyweights too.

The atmosphere, as a result, has improved significantly at Valdebebas. One of the changes that Alonso has made is getting closer to Vinicius, as seen by his hug, and his words of praise after the game. In general, he has realised that he must get closer to his players in order to command their support.

It seems, and certainly Real Madrid will be hoping, that this is a point of inflection for Alonso and the team. Alonso explained after the match that this would be shown by the upcoming fixtures, but certainly the noises emerging from the club appear to be much healthier than three days prior.