Although some people may not see it as such, Real Madrid who brings Xabi Alonso to replace Carlo Ancelotti is certainly a risk. We are talking about the largest club in world football and the other side we are talking about one of the most exciting young managers in sport.
That said, Alonso's long -term potential is still despite his thunderous success with Bayer Leverkusen. He clearly has all the potential in the world, but at the age of just 43 he has only just started his management career.
The Spaniard has been able to lead Real Madrid to the semi -final in the club World Cup and with that he has already made a few brave phone calls. He showed guts in holding Gonzalo Garcia for Kylian Mbappe, he was calm under pressure with his decision, despite some heavy challenges, and he was quick to throw Raul Asencio back into the mix as the replacement for Dean Huijsen after his red card against Borussia Dortmund.
Some would not be surprised to see a certain degree of doubt in his management style crawling in view of the size of the task that lies for him, but Alonso has made life to be composed and decisive when the crunch time arrives. Although winning several trophies in his first season may seem ambitious, a quick glance at our free bet calculator will tell you that it is certainly not outside the empire of the possibility.
They are confronted with an incredibly profitable first six games in the form of Osasuna, Real Oviedo, Mallorca, Real Sociedad, Espanyol and Levante before they arrive in the Madrid Derby and from there they could easily build a platform that sets them up for a really strong campaign. There are never guarantees in the beautiful game, but the early signs are promising.