Xabi Alonso leaves Bayer Leverkusen as a club legend after only two full seasons in charge.
Despite being under contract until the summer of 2026, Alonso bid farewell to Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the 2024–25 season to return to the Spanish capital. The 43-year-old is the new manager of Real Madrid, replacing the winningest manager in club history, Carlo Ancelotti.
Alonso has massive shoes to fill, but the Real Madrid icon comes with coaching accolades of his own. The Spaniard took charge of Bayer Leverkusen when the club was in the Bundesliga's relegation zone in Oct. 2022. What followed was a historic run of form.
Bayer Leverkusen went invincible in the 2023–24 Bundesliga season to dethrone Bayern Munich and be crowned the champions of Germany for the first time in club history. Even better, the German outfit went on to secure their first domestic double by winning the DFB-Pokal title.
Although Bayer Leverkusen came up short in the Europa League final the same season, the club still enjoyed an unprecedented unbeaten streak that etched Alonso's name into the club history books.






