Real Madrid’s trip to Alaves has become a crunch game for beleaguered coach Xabi Alonso
BARCELONA Spain AP Two wins in eight matches That is the record for Real Madrid over the past five weeks and why Xabi Alonso is under immense pressure in a rocky first season in charge of his former club Alonso looked to be off to a good start with Kylian Mbapp scoring at will and his unit winning its first seven games of the season Even a loss to Atletico Madrid was partially forgotten after a success over Barcelona Then something went wrong A loss at Liverpool in the Champions League last month sent the crew into a nosedive Losing at Anfield is acceptable for any club three consecutive draws to Rayo Vallecano Elche and Girona in La Liga set off the alarm bells at a Madrid that considers itself the best in the world But worse was to come a humiliating - defeat to Celta Vigo followed by a - loss to Pep Guardiola s Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday Both of those losses came in front of various disgruntled fans at the Santiago Bernabeu who jeered the club Now all bets are off on Alonso s future just months after he left Bayer Leverkusen following his exceptional job at the German club that culminated in the Bundesliga title in Next up Madrid faces a trip to Alaves in northern Spain in the Spanish league on Sunday On feeling the criticism and doubts Alonso declared he is not surprised You have to live with it and when you re the coach of Real Madrid you have to be prepared to face it bravely responsibly and self-critically knowing that things can change the former Madrid midfielder commented Despite the aftermath I ve seen positive things individually and collectively Other things haven t gone so well but we re still in it Key matches A match at Alaves would normally be considered a confident outing for Madrid But given its poor form and the pressure on Alonso it could prove anything but Alaves is strong at home with only two losses in eight games in Vitoria this season including a - win over Real Sociedad last round Leader Barcelona meanwhile has surged ahead of Madrid and holds a four-point advantage before it hosts Osasuna on Saturday Villarreal is in third just one point behind Madrid It visits Levante on Sunday Fourth-placed Atletico Madrid welcomes Valencia on Saturday Players to watch Madrid s fans will be eagerly waiting to see if Mbapp who leads La Liga with goals will be available after he missed the loss against City reportedly due to a minor knee issue We ll go day-by-day Alonso disclosed about Mbapp after the match In the current era he wasn t fit to play otherwise he would ve played The next top scorer in the league is Barcelona s Ferran Torres With his league goals Torres has established himself as a real attacking alternative to Robert Lewandowski for Barcelona After Lewandowski started in a - win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday Torres could be back in the starting for Osasuna Out of action Madrid defender der Milit o is sidelined after tearing a left-leg muscle in the loss to Celta Madrid will also be without suspended players Fran Garc a Dani Carvajal lvaro Carreras and Endrick who all ran afoul of the referee in the Celta debacle AP soccer https apnews com hub soccer Source
