Xabi Alonso believes Real Madrid must "take the positives" from the Super Cup

Xabi Alonso may have managed his last game as Real Madrid coach in the final of the 2026 Spanish Super Cup. The defeat against FC Barcelona (3-2), although respectable, does not hide the footballing and results crisis of a 'Merengue' team that has already suffered five defeats in 28 games this season and, in the League, finished the first half of the season 4 points behind Barça.

Despite the defeat in Arabia, the Basque coach believes his team did a good job, according to the game plan. From minute 1, the Whites handed the ball over to the Catalans and retreated into their own half, crouching and waiting for their opportunity to hurt them on the counter.

"The team has had a great attitude, great commitment. I knew there would be moments when we'd have to hold on without the ball, but to have that conviction in what we're doing," the Tolosarra began.

Xabi Alonso admits problems with physical preparation

In that regard, Xabi admitted that Madrid, once again, was physically outmatched by the rival in terms of play and physical condition. Barça, despite suffering a setback after Frenkie de Jong's expulsion, reached the final stretch in much better shape, once again with the lead after Raphinha's second goal in the 63rd minute.

"**Physical condition and injuries are penalizing us, preventing us from having stability and being able to distribute the workload across the squad**," explained Alonso. He also made it clear that Kylian Mbappé was only scheduled to play 20-25 minutes. Although the Frenchman contributed little in attack, his commitment to help in the final quarter of an hour was noteworthy.

"Kylian was going to come in just before we conceded the 2-3. We wanted imbalance, threat, to connect with him between the lines and in space. He gave us that a little later. A shame we were already behind on the scoreboard."

Xabi's 'optimistic' message: Will Florentino keep him in charge?

Likewise, the Spanish coach believes that, despite the defeat in the Clásico, there are positive aspects to value from the tournament, which is indeed the least important in hierarchy of the season, but possesses a key morale boost for the second half of the season. Not in vain, **in the last four years, the Super Cup champion has always ended up winning LaLiga**

"It's a competition in which we face two great rivals in a few days in the middle of the season. We'll take the positives and face our next challenges... It's time to look forward, try to get players back, as well as morale," Xabi Alonso pointed out.

Now, his future is in the hands of **Florentino Pérez**, who must decide now whether to back the Basque for the remainder of 25/26 or decide to take a gamble with an interim coach. The options are few for the 'Merengue' bench (Zidane doesn't seem convinced), which at the height of the Club World Cup last summer began the Tolosarra's cycle.

So far, their record is 24 wins, 4 draws, and 6 losses in 33 matches, with a total of 79 goals for and 38 against. Their most significant defeat to date was the 4-0 loss to PSG in the World Cup semi-finals. Against Barça, they currently have one win and one loss.