David Alaba, from cast-off to heavyweight: the Austrian's new role

There are several  Real Madrid players whose contracts expire at the end of the current soccer season. One of the most talked about is David Alaba, whose performance has declined slowly but steadily over the seasons, especially due to his physical problems and injuries. The difficulties in leaving behind the Valdebebas infirmary have put him in a truly complicated position.

Despite those precedents, Xabi Alonso has decided to start from scratch with all his players, using the Club World Cup and the current preseason as references for his work. David Alaba is one of the main beneficiaries of that way of doing things by the coach from Tolosa, since it gives him a certain margin to prove himself this season.

The experience of Real Madrid's "4" in the Club World Cup was not exactly positive: he was working to recover from his injury, sustained in the middle of the competition. Aside from that bad news received by Xabi Alonso, the Austrian defender has regained his physical shape and even played quite a few minutes in the preseason match against Leganés.

His performance in the match played at the Valdebebas Sports City is the culmination of the work done in the previous weeks. "OKDiario" points out that the white center-back has followed a specific recovery plan, designed to bring him back to his best level in time for the league debut against Osasuna.

On the rise

Real Madrid's coach is not unaware of the efforts David Alaba has made to present himself as a reliable player in what could be his last season. That's why the coach from Tolosa decided to try him as a midfielder against Leganés, a position in which he can perform... but he hasn't played there in a long time.

While it's true that he has always alternated between the positions of center-back and left-back, the Viennese player gained experience as a pivot during his time at Bayern Munich. David Alaba's full availability is yet another sign of his commitment to the merengue sports discipline: the Austrian footballer keeps working to be useful for his new coach.

It remains to be seen what decision Xabi Alonso himself will make regarding the first matches of LaLiga 25/26. The dilemma of the three center-backs in the white team, a formation that is becoming quite popular in Valdebebas, brings up other names: Raúl Asencio, Antonio Rüdiger, and a fully recovered Éder Militão. The "race" to partner Dean Huijsen initially leaves David Alaba out.

However, Xabi Alonso knows that a profile like that of Madrid's "4" is hard to find. Especially considering the marked lack of football creativity that the first team is suffering, a problem that both Huijsen and Alaba could help solve. The Spanish "24" would do so from the heart of the defense and the Austrian "4" could well do the same from the midfield line.