Xabi Alonso ‘on thin ice’ amid ‘a lot of anger among Real Madrid fans’ after Talavera result | OneFootball

Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso’s future at Estadio Bernabeu is far from certain despite the win against Talavera, as a Spanish journalist has noticed “a lot of anger” among the fans of the biggest club in the world.

Madrid built on their 2-1 win against Alaves at Estadio de Mendizorroza in LaLiga last weekend with a 3-2 victory over Talavera at Estadio El Prado in the Copa del Rey Round of 32 tie on Wednesday evening.

AS reported on December 11 that ‘the real decision window’ on the future of Xabi Alonso as the Real Madrid manager will come after the matches against Alaves, Talavera and Sevilla, who will travel to Estadio Bernabeu on Saturday.

The win against Alaves was laboured, and Real Madrid suffered a late scare against Talavera after going 2-0 up at half-time.

Talavera are second from bottom in Primera RFEF – Group 1, the third tier in the Spanish football league system, but they still managed to score two (late) goals against Madrid,

The main positives for Madrid were Kylian Mbappe’s double and Andriy Lunin’s saves, and while Alonso stays on for now at the Spanish and European powerhouse, the former Liverpool midfielder is ‘on this ice’.

According to Marca, Los Blancos’ performance against Talavera was ‘professional’, and although the Spanish giants won, former Madrid midfielder Alonso’s future at the club as manager is far from certain.

Marca wrote: ‘Xabi’s team showed positive signs in terms of attitude for the third consecutive match.

‘Showing effort shouldn’t be news, but right now it is (and a good thing) for this Madrid side that seemed to abandon its work rate in November and that, at the end of December, appears to be trying to reconnect with one of football’s most fundamental principles: running.

‘However, the football itself isn’t improving, and Xabi remains under scrutiny, on thin ice, especially after the final stretch of the match in which they conceded two goals and almost let the game slip away.

‘If it weren’t for Lunin, the match would have gone to extra time.

‘The opponent is Talavera, who are currently in the relegation zone of their Primera RFEF group.’

AS was not overly impressed with Madrid’s performance and wrote: ‘Real Madrid advance to the round of 16, hanging on for dear life after a second half in which they played at a snail’s pace. Talavera fall with honour in front of their home crowd.’

Journalist Dani Garrido said on Cadena SER, as relayed by AS: “I see a lot of anger among Real Madrid fans.”

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What Xabi Alonso said after Real Madrid win

During the post-match press conference, Alonso said, as relayed by Marca: “These things happen in the Cup, it happened to us, I’ve seen it happen to other teams, even after the 1-3 we conceded that foul, that 2-3, they pressed, they got back into it, we controlled the first half well and not scoring the 0-3 in the chances we had leaves the game open.

“We wanted to score the third goal, it wasn’t to be, and it was an exciting Cup tie. Mission accomplished, now on to the next one.”

When asked if he is leaving happy, Alonso said: “The goal is to advance, we’ve already achieved that, and that’s why I’m leaving satisfied and happy.

“We lacked consistency and coherence in our performance during matches. We needed to be more mature and not think that nothing can happen.”

Alonso was then asked what he is thinking now.

The Madrid manager responded: “Now our only objective is Mallorca. No, sorry, Sevilla, to finish well, we need the three points and the good feeling.”

Meanwhile, Real Madrid are said to have ‘enquired’ about a Manchester United midfielder about a potential move in the January transfer window.