It has been a summer of change for Real Madrid, where Xabi Alonso Carlo Ancelotti replaces as head coach and many new faces that come through the door.
A lot is expected from the former Madrid midfielder, although the excitement of the fans on his arrival in the early summer was somewhat pierced by the subsequent 4-0 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-final of the club World Cup. Now the Alonso era starts seriously.
Madrid starts their competition campaign when they organize Osasuna on Tuesday. Here the athletics answers the most important questions about what awaits us.
What are the hope in the club?
The expectations are very high behind the scenes.
The number of decisions in which Alonso was involved, even before his appointment became official, including new signing sessions, shows how many trust decisions have in their new head coach. Alonso seems to have much more power than its predecessors as a coach.
After he did not lift the Club World Cup, or another large trophy last season, the objectives to win La Liga and the Champions League – the favorite competition of Madrid, with a record 15 titles.
Who have they signed?
Madrid has made a large splash on the transfer market after previous years in which they showed more restraint.
They spent more than € 180 million (£ 156 million; $ 210 million) on four signing sessions-€ 10 million in Trent Alexander-Arnold, so that he could play the Club World Cup with them instead of waiting for his Liverpool contract for expiring at the end of June, € 58 million on Bournemouth Dean-Opdanssensensen Alvaro Left Back Alvaro Carreras and € 50m on Benaka Left Back Alvaro Left Back Alvaro Left Back Alvaro Left Back Alvaro Carreras and € 63 million on the Argentinian playmaker Franco Mastantuono of River Plate.
The last three arrivals are not older than 22 and emphasize how Madrid invests in promising young players, such as in previous years when buying Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga.
Who did not sign?
It is easier to talk about positions than specific names here. Madrid studied the market for a potential signing in midfield, but none of the options has convinced them.
Como's Nico Paz was considered. Madrid thought of activating their € 8 million back-back option at the 20-year-old Academy graduate who left them for the Serie A last summer, but in the end he decided that he needed more time and space to develop. Paz is expected to stay in northern Italy for at least one season, with Madrid retaining purchasing options in both 2027 and 2028.
What else is new?
After their Clasico defeat against Barcelona in May – their fourth of the season in the biggest match of Spanish football in all competitions – the Madrid board spoke about a coming “change of cycle”. Apart from the 66-year-old Ancelotti who are being replaced, two of the longest serving players of the club, Luka Modric, 39 and 34-year-old Lucas Vazquez, are also left and also take a combined 51 winners medals with them.
Alonso has taken a new coaching staff, while there have also been changes at the academic level, in which the legendary former striker Raul's role as head coach of Castilla, the 'B' team of Real Madrid, who plays in the Spanish Third Division. He has been replaced by Alvaro Arbeloa, a good friend of Alonso's who played next to him for both Madrid and Liverpool.
Club sources – who, like all the ones in this article, asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships – say that they think about the medium to long term with the general project and are careful with analyzing results, although positive results are exactly what will be expected.
Who is the best player in the preseason?
Officially Madrid's 'preseason' consisted of just two weeks of training on their Valdebebas training field and an 'official' friendly against Austrian top-flight side WSG Tyrol last night, but their six games in the World Cup in the US have effectively replaced their usual Tour there.
Huijsen was impressed by the tournament and immediately showed leadership after his move from Bournemouth, but the striking player of Madrid was Gonzalo Garcia. The 21-year-old striker was only seen as a promising young person for Castilla for the World Cup Club, but his four goals made him the top scorer of the tournament and led him to sign a contract extension last week.
What should fans be enthusiastic about?
After so much criticism of Ancelotti's style, Alonso's first message should hope in his opening conference: “I want the team to convey emotion and energy and make contact with people. Symbiosis will be fundamental.”
Alonso's approach is expected to attack and be entertaining, in terms of changing tactical plans during games and more important roles for the young players of the club. That is good news for Summer Areas of Huijsen, 20, and Carreras, 22, but also those who have been in the club for a while and still have to settle completely, such as Arda Guler, also 20.
Their strongest XI is …
There are a few reservations for the above selection.
Carvajal, who is the captain, played 19 minutes at the World Cup after repairing a front cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury that had kept him outside since October, so he can return very well to his starting position on right back despite the arrival of Alexander-Arnold.
In the meantime, Bellingham is still recovering from shoulder operation after the tournament and will not return until October. After that it is completely reasonable to expect that he will catch up with Guler or Mastantuono in the starting line-up, depending on how the young people perform.
And finally it all depends on the system that Alonso was chosen, which sometimes showed flexibility when playing three times three times during the Club World Cup.