Club World Cup: How Real Madrid could line up under new boss Xabi Alonso

The last few weeks have seen significant changes in the Real Madrid team. The fans bid farewell to some of their beloved players at the end of the last season, i.e., Lucas Vazquez and Luka Modric. Meanwhile, the head coach Carlo Ancelotti also said his goodbye to the Merengues club and is now busy managing the Brazilian national team.

There is no doubt that saying goodbye to these icons was a painful moment for the Los Blancos. However, this pain was significantly mitigated by the excitement that these fans feel for the future with the new arrivals.

Xabi Alonso’s first test at Real Madrid

The most important of these new arrivals will undoubtedly be the manager Xabi Alonso, who has already been at the club for quite some time now. He proved his talents as a manager by winning the Bundesliga title with Bayer Leverkusen, and expectations are quite high with him.

However, he will not have a lot of time for his first test at Real Madrid, as the Club World Cup starts only in a few days. He has been backed significantly by the Merengues club, as two new players, Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold, were added to the squad in the June transfer window that FIFA introduced this season, particularly for the CWC.

For now, this transfer window is closed, and there are no more changes expected in the Los Blancos’ squad for the CWC. Thus, one can predict the ideal lineup that Alonso will field for this competition, provided that all the players are fit and available.

Alonso’s possible lineup

Thibaut Courtois will clearly be the starter in goal, with Andriy Lunin being his backup. The defence will see several changes, and it remains to be seen whether the coach will prefer a three-man or four-man backline.

Recent reports indicate that he will use a four-man backline, and if that is the case, he can field a centre-back pairing of Antonio Rudiger and Dean Huijsen. The right flank would be taken up by Trent Alexander-Arnold, while Ferland Mendy can take the opposite flank. Meanwhile, Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao are also expected to return from their injuries for this competition.

All the talent in midfield will make it difficult for Alonso to make a decision for this area of the field. Still, the three starters in midfield would most likely be Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde, and Jude Bellingham. Other players like Eduardo Camavinga, Arda Guler, and Dani Ceballos will likely start on the bench.

Two spots in the attack are relatively easy to predict, as Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe will start. It remains to be seen whether Rodrygo Goes will be a starter under Alonso after the poor 2025-26 season he has had.

Several changes can take place in this lineup as the competition advances, and it will be highly exciting to see how Xabi Alonso performs in this first early test at Real Madrid.