Record 15-time champions Real Madrid begin their latest quest for European glory on Tuesday against Marseille, aiming to prove they now have the coach and squad to reclaim the throne.
The summer brought sweeping changes at the Santiago Bernabéu. Madrid invested around €170 million ($200m) in new talent and turned to Xabi Alonso — a former midfield general at the club — to succeed veteran manager Carlo Ancelotti.
Los Blancos’ shortcomings were brutally exposed last season when Arsenal swept them aside 5-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals. Despite boasting a star-studded frontline of Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham, Ancelotti’s system left their defence exposed, resulting in six Champions League defeats and a trophyless campaign as Barcelona celebrated a treble.
This season, Alonso’s Madrid are showing a different face. The Basque coach has tightened the defence, with two clean sheets already in La Liga, and his side battled with 10 men for over an hour to beat Real Sociedad at the weekend, preserving a perfect league record.
“The players made a huge effort and dug deep for the benefit of the team,” Alonso said after the win, highlighting the collective work ethic that was often missing last year.
Flexibility has been Alonso’s calling card in the early weeks. Unlike Ancelotti, he has rotated his line-ups and adjusted his tactics, acknowledging the demands of the new Champions League format, which includes eight league-phase games. “We’re going to need everyone,” Alonso stressed. “It’s important for all to feel involved so we can be consistent.”
Madrid’s squad has been reinforced with Dean Huijsen, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Álvaro Carreras in defence, while Argentine prodigy Franco Mastantuono offers fresh attacking spark. Bellingham, recovering from shoulder surgery, is expected back soon to further strengthen Alonso’s options.
Mbappé, meanwhile, has hit the ground running, scoring four goals in four league outings, and Madridistas are already convinced their talisman is ready to lead another assault on Europe.
For Alonso, who guided Bayer Leverkusen to a Europa League final last year and won the Champions League as a player with both Liverpool and Madrid, success in this competition will be the ultimate measure of his tenure. At a club where Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane set the standard with three European Cups apiece, the bar is sky-high.
With optimism returning to the Bernabéu, Madrid’s fresh project faces its first major European test against Marseille — the start of what they hope will be a march back to continental supremacy.
