La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2025/26

[Frankolala]

Mba
All of you blaming the coach Xabi Alonso you’re all wrong, you can’t be blaming a coach for a player’s bad behaviour and disrespect. Mbappe had the same effect at PSG and that’s why they couldn’t win anything in Europe as he left, they got their first UCL trophy. Now Madrid who used to be a serial winner is loosing titles back to back to back but he’s banging goals.
When Barça President said “Mbappe would ruin Madrid’s locker room” people thought he was saying it out of rivalry or jealousy but it’s the truth and it’s evident now.
If truly this incident is the reason Alonso resigns then Madrid’s management has failed.

Mbappe cannot be bigger than a team. Xabi wasn't sacked, he left due to a mutual agreement/understanding between him and Madrid management which was, he should win the Super Cup finals or resign. Xabi Alonso had issues with Valverde, you can see his biased decision in the second half for removing Valverde from the game. A player that was performing exceptionally and is a good advantage for Madrid at that critical moment due to his misle shots.

[slapper]

I just found out about this bad news, I agree with your comments about Xabi Alonso. The coach is there to bring 11 players together, if each player has too much ego then no matter how good they are, it will still fall apart. Some time ago it was Vini who had problems with Xabi and now Mbappe. It's good that Xabi resigned, I support him, because what? if not given the authority to manage the team according to his wishes, the team will not progress. Now Arbeloa takes over, another young coach and also a former Madrid player, can he unite these players?

Real Madrid players don’t have respect for their coach and this is the reason why they are performing poorly. Alonso is a very good coach but because the players are not working ready to work with him, that is why they are not doing very well or they didn’t perform well, vini junior don’t like Alonso and I really don’t know why and same disrespect that vini junior gave  to the coach was the same thing Mbappe did in the super cup final and the management or the presidents of Real Madrid is not against this disrespect. He’s even supporting the players which is very bad. Real Madrid don’t have discipline and any team or club that is operating with a discipline will never do well. Barcelona will keep lifting trophies because they have discipline in Barcelona.
The new coach that was signed we still fail them because they don’t have respect and discipline they will never do well except they decided to change.

Vinicius didn't wake one day and decided to hate Alonso. The manager continued playing him in positions he's useless at - central, sometimes even right wing. For a player living off on the left touchline doing those 1v1 dribbles? That's career suicide. And surprise surprise, he went months without scoring. Sixteen games or some ridiculous number of games

The actual point at which everything went wrong wasn't even a loss. It was October and they beat Barcelona and they went five points clear And Vini got subbed off, and stormed right down the tunnel. Right there. That's when the club had to make that choice: to stick by the coach or to stick by the two hundred million dollar player who would leave if you don't.

Guess who they picked?

The board agreed with Vinicius. Internally they were saying "yeah well maybe Alonso shouldn't have subbed him". Once that happens? Manager's done. Doesn't matter what he does after that, he's already dead.

And Barcelona is not "disciplined", they just have a system which suits their players. Flick didn't get three superstars fighting for space on the pitch.

[GbitG]

I believe Xabi Alonso did the right thing for himself by giving up. Because just think about it. You just can't make your players listen to your calls. Then what's the meaning of being the manager there?

Mbappe is acting like he is the owner of the team. This is ridiculous. No player should be given the freedom to act in this way. Even your best player.

I wonder who the next candidate to deal with Mbappe's ego will be as Arbeloa is temporary there.

I agree that Xabi Alonso's decision to resign as coach was the right one, as he lacked the authority to manage the team as he wished, and his relationships with several key players were strained due to his inflated egos. His replacement is Arbeloa, who has no experience coaching a major club, let alone managing star players with inflated egos. I don't think Arbeloa will last long as Real Madrid coach, and he will struggle to improve the team's performance, not only because he can't manage his players' egos, but also because several players are suffering from injuries.

Well, Perez should need to deep dive into this problem because if their players reacting like this in every coach then probably it will cause a concern for yeh team like if their key players is not following the coach's commandments, then how can their team be able to utilize his ability. Every single players should need to follow the manager command because coach is responsible for everything if he shows any weakness, then staff can recall him for his mistakes....

No player is bigger than Real Madrid, whether it's Kylian Mbappe or it's a Vinicius Junior. Both should need to stay in the limit and if they are not scheduling their behavior then probably Perez should need to kick them out.

[ZAINmalik75]

Alonso's relationship with several of madrid's star players is not good. Madrid management has given more priority to  their players and fired the manager. If my guess is correct then it is a big mistake by madrid management. And madrid will face a bigger decline in the future.

You are right that madrid needs a more experienced  manager. Alonso is a talented and smart coach. But he has less experience. But who will Madrid make their manager now? Will Zidane come back ? Who could be Madrid's next manager ? There are rumors about Alvaro arbeloa. But he is not experienced enough either.

Yeh absolutely that were the reason Alonso prefer to walk away from Madrid instead of waiting for his sack off as he was being tired of dealing with his star egos, morever first we have heard clash in relation between vini Jr and Alonso and now at final we have seen how rubbishy mbappe behave with Alonso by declining his order for Barcelona players God of honor and rest, I don't think things will be done smooth like that as none of big manger will love to deal will such situation and he will always get hard to execute his plan while having such names. Anyway it's true that Alonso hasn't have much experience of dealing big sides but he wasn't that bad and I think no even zidane will survive while having such clashes ongoing.

[jaberwock]

The problem with Real Madrid firing someone in the middle of the season is that if they make a bad decision getting someone, they are going to have hard time fixing the team. They may end up yet another season with zero wins, no titles.

La Liga is already in danger, few bad weeks and it's over already, they have to keep winning to reach to Barcelona and with a new manager that means they have to hire someone good. They are talking about Klopp, who is a great manager, but his early few games may not be that great until team understands what he is requiring them to do in tactics, and if they just lose one or two more games then the league is basically over. This is why I highly doubt that we are going to see this be easy for them.

[Dump3er]

I can't believe how toxic Real Madrid has become. They sacked a coach that worked for them just after they refused any of their coach request. They were not a serious club. Even when after they sacked Xabi, they replace him with someone that is not even better than him.

I think they're a joke club right now. Any of decision taken was out of my mind. The team treated all of their players like divas, and have superiority over the coach.

Is that normal? I don't think it's normal. A good club has to build from a coach combined with good players. When club and players can't respect their coach, it's all useless. 

That is a lot of judgment within a single post. I doubt that they are a joke club right now and the decision to sack Xabi Alonso is no surprise. I can't remember that Real Madrid ever gave a coach more chances than they deemed necessary or affordable. Other coaches had to leave when they were in a much better position than this. Everyone knows that Real Madrid doesn't accept average performance. It doesn't matter who you are or what you achieved as a player with the club, if it is not going well they will pull the trigger against the coach.

Zidane may have been granted more tolerance, but I can imagine that he had more sophisticated contracts than Alonso. I think his salary was not the highest and sacking a coach with a not too high salary costs the club much less than sacking coaches like Zidane or Mourinho. Whether that was a reason or not, I don't know. But in general coaches know when they accept that position that they are not granted time to build a great team. Real Madrid wants the team to win everything from the first day on.

[$weetne$$]

It's a bad news today for me, losing Xabi Alonso at Real Madrid is a big blow for Real Madrid actually, maybe there was a little bit of problem with the players in the club but I don't think it's a hindrance if Xabi is given more authority in playing his way, but I'm also grateful that he left because then he will have more free space to work in other teams, Arbeloa, I just know him and he's not too famous to my ears, of course I hope he can contribute better, but no matter how good he is Barcelona will definitely be the winner this season.

Already Madrid did had an arrangement for his replacement so it is  something Madrid probably had planned long ago but had not made it known just yet at the time. I wished for xabi to get s good team there after, interesting part is that Madrid will still be good even after this especially as it is something they did planned and their team is a sorted after by coaches.

[pawel7777]

Wow. I've just read the news about Xabi Alonso.
So the official reason has not been stated, but the consensus seems to be that the reason behind his departure was not the results of the team but the fact he and (some of) the players didn't quite get along.
I did not see that coming and expected him to last at the position for at least few years. Anyhow, I'm sure he will get plenty of job offers.

The temporary replacement is Alvaro Arbeloa, but the rumour has it that Real is after Jurgen Klopp and Enzo Maresca. Klopp would probably be the best bet, but I don't think he's actually interested in going back to being manager/head coach of any team.

[Furious 7]

Wow. I've just read the news about Xabi Alonso.
So the official reason has not been stated, but the consensus seems to be that the reason behind his departure was not the results of the team but the fact he and (some of) the players didn't quite get along.
I did not see that coming and expected him to last at the position for at least few years. Anyhow, I'm sure he will get plenty of job offers.

This rumor has been buzzing since the start of the season and in some reports Xabi has been deemed too rigid in his approach to the players in the current squad but the truth is still uncertain and this will only be a rumor whose level of belief will probably return to each individual who reads or hears this rumor.

It's just that for me when the situation has happened, whatever the reason, it's certain that Xabi and Madrid didn't really get along so he's leaving now. Regardless of the fault of Madrid or Xabi we just have to respect this decision and support the new coach so that he can realize what is expected by the club management and the consensus.
I don't hate this decision although it's a bit regrettable for me but all decisions must have been considered in order to be better in the future.

[Dzwaafu11]

It's a bad news today for me, losing Xabi Alonso at Real Madrid is a big blow for Real Madrid actually, maybe there was a little bit of problem with the players in the club but I don't think it's a hindrance if Xabi is given more authority in playing his way, but I'm also grateful that he left because then he will have more free space to work in other teams, Arbeloa, I just know him and he's not too famous to my ears, of course I hope he can contribute better, but no matter how good he is Barcelona will definitely be the winner this season.

Already Madrid did had an arrangement for his replacement so it is  something Madrid probably had planned long ago but had not made it known just yet at the time. I wished for xabi to get s good team there after, interesting part is that Madrid will still be good even after this especially as it is something they did planned and their team is a sorted after by coaches.

Yeah.. sure I don’t think this is a bad new in my opinion, because Xabi Alonso is actually a great and experience manager and he will definitely continue doing great when he get to anyother team, this is not just a decision it has been planned.

So I think we should understand that the management think this is the right thing for the club at the moment, since they are not seeing the expected result from Xabi Alonso, they feel like changing their coach is the only solution for them to bring back their team performance, so let’s see what the new manager performance will look like, we can’t say he will be better not better than Xabi Alonso by this time.

[Spaceman1000$]

Mba
All of you blaming the coach Xabi Alonso you’re all wrong, you can’t be blaming a coach for a player’s bad behaviour and disrespect. Mbappe had the same effect at PSG and that’s why they couldn’t win anything in Europe as he left, they got their first UCL trophy. Now Madrid who used to be a serial winner is loosing titles back to back to back but he’s banging goals.
When Barça President said “Mbappe would ruin Madrid’s locker room” people thought he was saying it out of rivalry or jealousy but it’s the truth and it’s evident now.
If truly this incident is the reason Alonso resigns then Madrid’s management has failed.

Mbappe cannot be bigger than a team. Xabi wasn't sacked, he left due to a mutual agreement/understanding between him and Madrid management which was, he should win the Super Cup finals or resign. Xabi Alonso had issues with Valverde, you can see his biased decision in the second half for removing Valverde from the game. A player that was performing exceptionally and is a good advantage for Madrid at that critical moment due to his misle shots.

Personally I feel Madrid does not want an experiment coach, they want a coach that will give them instant results, they are called the Galacticos for a reason. Madrid only care about results because they believe they've spent the money, and the the result they've gotten from Alonso, it is not commensurate enough to keep him. Of course the intricacies concerning individual players and their personal sentiment between them and the coach will always occur but it doesn't supersede the results the team is expected to get and hence Madrid doesn't get that result, they will react.

[MorganaX]

Mba
All of you blaming the coach Xabi Alonso you’re all wrong, you can’t be blaming a coach for a player’s bad behaviour and disrespect. Mbappe had the same effect at PSG and that’s why they couldn’t win anything in Europe as he left, they got their first UCL trophy. Now Madrid who used to be a serial winner is loosing titles back to back to back but he’s banging goals.
When Barça President said “Mbappe would ruin Madrid’s locker room” people thought he was saying it out of rivalry or jealousy but it’s the truth and it’s evident now.
If truly this incident is the reason Alonso resigns then Madrid’s management has failed.

Mbappe cannot be bigger than a team. Xabi wasn't sacked, he left due to a mutual agreement/understanding between him and Madrid management which was, he should win the Super Cup finals or resign. Xabi Alonso had issues with Valverde, you can see his biased decision in the second half for removing Valverde from the game. A player that was performing exceptionally and is a good advantage for Madrid at that critical moment due to his misle shots.

I can say that, Xabi has really tried his best for the team and we clearly saw it. But let's not forget that this is real Madrid, a club that has more expectations to be met, and if those expectations are not met, you will definitely be replaced. Well I won't say it is easy for the team though. Hope they are can have that play that Xabi hasn't given them. Or should we say this coach is going to be better or not. Well let's wait to see if it will be better or not.

[Rgram]

I can say that, Xabi has really tried his best for the team and we clearly saw it. But let's not forget that this is real Madrid, a club that has more expectations to be met, and if those expectations are not met, you will definitely be replaced. Well I won't say it is easy for the team though. Hope they are can have that play that Xabi hasn't given them. Or should we say this coach is going to be better or not. Well let's wait to see if it will be better or not.

There is a couple of ways a game can go and the Barcelona vs Real Madrid fixture wasn’t any different, it was either sides win or we have a draw. The first half was paced and Barcelona clearly dominated but, we can see Real Madrid recovered and responded to each goal that was scored until they couldn’t. Vini Jnr was very active in that much and somehow became redundant when Mbappe arrived.
Xabi is doing the most he could but, the expectations on Real Madrid is much more than his offering the team right now.

[coinlary]

La Liga is already in danger, few bad weeks and it's over already, they have to keep winning to reach to Barcelona and with a new manager that means they have to hire someone good.

Laliga is in danger??
There's nothing wrong with laliga, only Realmadrid  seem to be on hot seat because if they can't  find a better immediate replace for  xabi Alonso then they risk losing everything this season  and will eventually  result in sacking the incoming manager as well.
Their upcoming games this week are easy ones, so the new Manager should get a nice welcome aswell until the end of the month.
Looking forward to a dramatic season

[Sexylizzy2813]

La Liga is already in danger, few bad weeks and it's over already, they have to keep winning to reach to Barcelona and with a new manager that means they have to hire someone good.

Laliga is in danger??
There's nothing wrong with laliga, only Realmadrid  seem to be on hot seat because if they can't  find a better immediate replace for  xabi Alonso then they risk losing everything this season  and will eventually  result in sacking the incoming manager as well.
Their upcoming games this week are easy ones, so the new Manager should get a nice welcome aswell until the end of the month.
Looking forward to a dramatic season

True nothing is wrong anywhere, we could say it is finished for Madrid because at this point they are clueless and they can't find any means of getting back to that great form, Barcelona are leading and they're not ready to drop point for Madrid. The problem Madrid are facing is like a similar problem Man UTD are facing. Sacking Alonso and bringing in anybody won't change the fact that Barcelona are currently the best in la Liga. For me is best for Madrid to accept their fate because I don't see any way for them to win the la Liga title this season or any other title they are chasing this campaign.

[Pjcr7]

Personally, this is beyond comparison even though it's targeted at the first 34 games. Both teams are different in every way and dimension. If you look at the numbers they are the same, losses equal, wins equal and draws equal. This is the picture that has been circulating online since yesterday, I have seen it several times and I just decided to download and talk about it now since it's been on for some hours. Barcelona lost but it was against small teams only Atletico Madrid was a big team and Real Madrid lost to five big teams which meant they were important matches. That's on big difference and to Real Madrid president, losing this kind of matches is not something that went down well with the management and fans.

[Pablo-wood]

La Liga is already in danger, few bad weeks and it's over already, they have to keep winning to reach to Barcelona and with a new manager that means they have to hire someone good.

Laliga is in danger??
There's nothing wrong with laliga, only Realmadrid  seem to be on hot seat because if they can't  find a better immediate replace for  xabi Alonso then they risk losing everything this season  and will eventually  result in sacking the incoming manager as well.
Their upcoming games this week are easy ones, so the new Manager should get a nice welcome aswell until the end of the month.
Looking forward to a dramatic season

Absolutely nothing wrong with the Laliga. It's just Madrid who have their own scores to settle and I just hope they find a perfect solution as the scout for a new manager. Although there is still hope in catching up with the Barcelona but the chances are slim because Hansi Flick won't be sleeping for the rest of the season.

Madrid might have to struggle for the rest of the season because a new manager won't just perform the magic they all seek immediately, it will obviously take a couple of trial and error to find the optimum solution except he has a technology on ground already that helps in finding the best possible tactics that suits the club.

[Luzin]

I just decided to download and talk about it now since it's been on for some hours. Barcelona lost but it was against small teams only Atletico Madrid was a big team and Real Madrid lost to five big teams which meant they were important matches. That's on big difference and to Real Madrid president, losing this kind of matches is not something that went down well with the management and fans.

When a new coach comes, they will bring a new culture and rules that are adapted to the team's conditions. Xabi was like that too; he brought a new culture and hoped the players could adjust well. But the fact is that Xabi's plan doesn't seem to be going well. Even the management doesn't seem to be supporting him. It is indeed a big club with big players. The players have egos that ideally shouldn't be there, and they should all be under Xabi's command. This condition was very evident in the last match. Xabi instructed the players to pay respect to Barcelona, but it seemed Mbappe refused and walked away. So it seems there is a greater power than Xabi in Madrid. Therefore, Xabi's departure was a fairly appropriate decision, I would have done the same if the situation was that difficult. Who will be the next coach?

[SilverCryptoBullet]

Personally, this is beyond comparison even though it's targeted at the first 34 games. Both teams are different in every way and dimension. If you look at the numbers they are the same, losses equal, wins equal and draws equal. This is the picture that has been circulating online since yesterday, I have seen it several times and I just decided to download and talk about it now since it's been on for some hours. Barcelona lost but it was against small teams only Atletico Madrid was a big team and Real Madrid lost to five big teams which meant they were important matches. That's on big difference and to Real Madrid president, losing this kind of matches is not something that went down well with the management and fans.

Real Madrid is a big club with great successful tradition with abundant titles won in their club history. There is no considerable patience given to their head coaches, even they won titles with the club so with what happened for Xabi Alonso, it's very reasonable and explainable based on the club history. Xabi Alonso has yet completed a season with the club, and he has no longer had opportunity to do that, but with results so far, Real Madrid will be very possibly lose La Liga title to Barcelona again. In UEFA Champions League, with their performance quality especially in big matches with strongest opponents, their chance to win Champions League trophy is very small too.

Combine all these things, Xabi Alonso has very little reasons to convince Florentino Perez to save his head coach position, and what need to be done actually happened. Real Madrid will move forward with a temporary coach and there is rumor that Klopp will take over this position in the summer.

[armanda90]

When a new coach comes, they will bring a new culture and rules that are adapted to the team's conditions. Xabi was like that too; he brought a new culture and hoped the players could adjust well. But the fact is that Xabi's plan doesn't seem to be going well. Even the management doesn't seem to be supporting him. It is indeed a big club with big players. The players have egos that ideally shouldn't be there, and they should all be under Xabi's command. This condition was very evident in the last match. Xabi instructed the players to pay respect to Barcelona, but it seemed Mbappe refused and walked away. So it seems there is a greater power than Xabi in Madrid. Therefore, Xabi's departure was a fairly appropriate decision, I would have done the same if the situation was that difficult. Who will be the next coach?

True, when new coach coming bring new tactical, new formation team, new culture and new games plan exactly huge difference with the previous coach. Its happening when Xabi Alonso arrives in Madrid he changed the formation teams as usual Arda Guller most often at the bench and Alonso playing him as regular players and made huge change the regular composition teams. Before leaving Madrid, Alonso talking to media about have bad relationship with one Madrid players but not mention yet who players make bad communication in the looker room of Real Madrid.
Actually as Madrid fans I am not really interested with Xabi Alonso tactical, most dominance playing with ball possession but lack creativities for scoring goals regarding how many games Madrid got draw and difficulty for scoring goals when the opponent teams playing full defense.