Real Madrid will face Osasuna on August 19, the final La Liga game in round 1 of the 2025-26 season. Xabi Alonso will get his debut season underway at the Santiago Bernabeu, and will be greeted with a great atmosphere.
Alonso has plenty of decisions to make regarding the starting lineup. There are four new signings, and two senior players returning from long injury layoffs who are pushing to start the game.
Alonso spoke to the media ahead of his first La Liga game in charge of Los Blancos. Read on to know what he said.
Mastantuono
"The first time I spoke to Mastantuono I was surprised by his personality. I was 17 years old at the time and I was very confident. He didn't have any vertigo about taking the step of coming to Real Madrid. Since he has arrived, that maturity and quality is noticeable. You can see that he is going to integrate quickly, both in the dynamics of the game and in the dressing room".
Has the expected level been reached?
"We are taking steps. What level is difficult to measure, there is no thermometer to know, but we are going to take steps. I'm sure we still have a few to give, but the main and fundamental ideas we were already introducing during the Club World Cup and now in these two weeks we have influenced them. From there we are going to make the tour. The feeling is good."
Are you considering a way out?
"I count on all of us who are here. I want them to be one hundred percent, we need it. We need the necessary attitude and energy and I count on everyone."
Competition in positions
"I am clear that it is a very good competition and I really like that in each position we have two players who can play, who want to show that they deserve the position. Then I'll have to decide. Sometimes I'll have to deal, but I think we have a lot of doubled positions. At right-back we have two players: Carva, who has already trained a lot more, who is much closer to his level and Trent, who comes from Liverpool and is very good for the level of the squad. We have a lot of games and we need that level."
The match
schedule "As you say, it is already immovable. Our request was above all for the health of the players, to respect their period after the long season and to have a little more preparation and it would have been nice if we had received that support. In the end, it was not to be. We have two weeks and we don't have to look for excuses anymore. The team can compete tomorrow, we're going to try, I'm convinced that it's going to be because many times the desire and the heart push much more than the legs. Tomorrow we are looking forward to starting, to return to the stadium and for the people to enjoy themselves".
The league match in Miami
"I agree with the club's statement. At the beginning of the competition we all knew what the rules were with which we were competing and if the rules are changed it must be unanimous of all the participants. Right now it does not fit and all the participants of the League should have been asked before".
Is there pressure for Lamine Yamal?
"I don't know how much pressure, but it has developed a lot in this short time that it has been there. He is being an important player for both Barcelona and the national team and we will have to face him".
Consistency in all lines
"It's a matter of all lines being conscious. Obviously it is important that the strikers do not get hung up on the laps; Not only those names but all those who are going to play in those positions. But in the same way as when we attack the defensive line, push. We want to function as a team and that we are all participating and living what is necessary in each play. That will help us to make all distances better, both when we have to defend and when we have to attack. If we are very far away attacking each other, then the laps are usually more difficult or with greater distances. Nowadays it is very important to be aware of this and in the World Cup we took a step forward. It is something that we are very aware of and that we continue to work on."
Promise to the fans
"I'm more of a doer than a saying, promising rather than doing in football doesn't usually work. We are working and people are eager, that is perceived. We are also looking forward to it, we want to start this new project, with new players, a new coach and bring this energy that we have to the stadium. We have to deserve it and we want to start walking that path tomorrow to get where we want to be in May."
The team
boss "It has to be natural, intrinsic, it has to come out of them organic. We have communicative players, who are contagious and who in a short time are making their place. That's very important to make everything more connected. When there is communication, helping the partner helps oneself. That's not that I say you're the leader and it has to be, that has to be in a natural way. The leader does not impose himself, but he is generated and from what he transmits to the rest there may be more than one leader."
Refereeing
"We start the season now and we will see how things go. Hopefully we don't have to talk too much about the referees and I don't want to talk too soon."
Rodrygo
"There are many rumours in the summer, but I've seen him well, I count on everyone. All those I count on I want to be feeling for the team, for the team and I want it to be 100% and that is what worries me and occupies me right now."
Mallorca-Barcelona controversy
"I think it's not up to me to be commenting on what happens in other games. I heard what Jagoba Arrasate said and I think he explained it very well."
Mastantuono's contribution
"Yes, he could get minutes. It will provide quality and energy, it is committed. Defensively he has good momentum, in the short time I have seen that he has that Argentinian spirit, warrior and then that he has quality. He is combative and has a spectacular left foot both from set pieces and in the last pass; his definition is very good and he is young. We have to accompany him but he is already at a very good level".
Will Brahim have minutes?
"I've seen him well, I already knew him, how different he can be, how he understands the position, he knows how to generate different things, how he relates well to his teammates. In short spaces he is very good, he is ambidextrous, he defines very well. I wasn't surprised because I already knew him well and if he's in the squad he can play tomorrow".
Mastantuono's favorite player
"I can see that it makes sense that his favorite player is Messi; being Argentine and being left-footed is not a surprise for me."
The memory he has of the fans
"The memory I have was very good. I even came back playing for Bayern in a Champions League match and the relationship was good, I felt the affection. Now the role is different, but I'm expectant, motivated and eager to feel that connection with people again. Time has passed, but I've always felt it very alive. Whatever has to happen, I want to feel what I have to feel, but I'm happy to be back."
Nenadiopty
20
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