Alonso assesses first Real Madrid Liga win and claims ‘nothing is going on’

Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso seemed content with the three points to begin their La Liga campaign on Tuesday night, but ready to see more from his side going forward. The Basque manager also responded to more doubts over the future of Brazilian forward Rodrygo Goes, after he remained on the bench and without minutes.

Los Blancos secured a 1-0 victory over Osasuna with Kylian Mbappe leading the way for the home side, winning the penalty and scoring it in the second half. Alonso was conscious that his team had lacked penetration though.

“It’s clear that there were good things, and things to improve. After just two weeks of preseason, it’s clear the journey is long. We lacked a bit of freshness in the final third, but we were organised, and against a low block, maybe it was difficult for us to create chances.”

“But there were good things, and bad, the team is getting better, and getting into rhythm. We know we have two games before the break, and the team is getting fit.”

Alonso explained that they had trouble breaking down Los Rojillo, who were only breached by Mbappe’s penalty, and their best efforts in the first half were from long-range courtesy of Dean Huijsena and Eder Militao.

“It was difficult, they were jumping onto us, floating in 5-3-2 and in 5-4-1 sometimes, it was difficult to find spaces. We tried to get to the by-line with Vinicius and Carreras, but we didn’t manage to find that last pass to create clear opportunities. In the second half, maybe they got out a bit more, and recovered the ball quicker, as they risked more. But it’s part of the adaptation process.”

He continued on to note that Real Madrid had prepared for an Osasuna side that would keep their defensive line a little higher.

“We’ve not had much time to prepare. We expected Osasuna to be higher, from what we saw in preseason, and against a low block, we’ve not been able to train much in these two weeks. We needed to get more players into the area, to explode into space more, know when to risk more, or when to attack from a second ball. But no doubt we will prepare for that, and we will work on it.”

The Real Madrid coach continued to deny that the absence of Rodrygo Goes was not related to his future or a change of role. The Brazilian was an unused substitute, making it just one start in seven matches that Alonso has been in charge of.

“There’s nothing going on with Rodrygo. We have to put it in context. The Club World Cup was different, I think we can leave it behind, and this was just one game. I’m counting on him, what’s important is this season, and we don’t have to read too much into this for the future.”

“If in three months, he has the same amount of minutes, then I can answer you. But today, it was about the circumstances of the match, and my decisions during it.”

Rodrygo has been subject to intense speculation over his Real Madrid career this summer, and understandably, given he has featured for just 93 minutes in their last 12 games, seemingly without injury. It may well be that Real Madrid are keen not to risk injuring Rodrygo before the end of the transfer window on the off-chance that he does move, but on Tuesday he saw Franco Mastantuono, Vinicius Junior, Brahim Diaz and Gonzalo Garcia Torres all used in roles he has played in the past ahead of him.