Xabi Alonso has had a very clear idea since he took charge of Real Madrid's bench: to give a new twist to the playing style of the white team. To achieve this, he has decided to draw inspiration from one of the coaches who has most influenced his career: Pep Guardiola.
The Basque coach was managed by the Catalan during his time at Bayern Munich. He has revived a tactical formula that worked more than a decade ago. Now he intends to adapt it to Bernabéu's DNA.
Three center backs and two advanced wingbacks
The foundation of the system is clear: a defense with three center backs and fullbacks converted into wingbacks, with a clear offensive vocation.
Johan Cruyff innovated this concept. Guardiola perfected it at Barça and Bayern. The formula aims to ensure that Kylian Mbappé has more influence in the build-up play and doesn't just wait for balls in space.
Xabi knows that if he wants to get the most out of the Frenchman, he must involve him in areas of influence and give him the freedom to move with the ball near the box.
In this new structure, Real Madrid will play with three fixed center backs —Huijsen, Asensio, Militao, Rüdiger, and Alaba are the candidates—. The long wingback roles are reserved for Carvajal, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Álvaro Carreras.
The midfield will be compacted with Camavinga and Valverde as key pieces to keep the balance. Meanwhile, Mbappé and Bellingham will have more freedom to swap positions in the final third.
The result Xabi seeks is a more dominant, more associative Real Madrid with greater control of the game through possession. He won't give up the verticality that has brought it so many titles in recent years.
The idea has caused excitement among several players in the locker room, especially those who are more familiar with possession-based systems. However, not everyone views this radical change favorably.
A "guardiolized" Real Madrid
Some veterans prefer the classic 4-3-3 that has brought so much success, but Xabi Alonso is convinced that this new model is the path to European hegemony. In the first training sessions, the coach has spent hours working on offensive automatisms, passing lanes, and building from the back. The goal is that, by the start of the season, the new Real Madrid will already speak Guardiola's language.
With this tactical approach, Xabi Alonso makes it clear that he hasn't come just to manage, but to build a team with its own identity. Mbappé is the axis, but everything revolves around an idea he learned from one of the greats. Madrid 2025-26 is under construction and its blueprint bears a very recognizable signature: Pep Guardiola.