Xabi Alonso announces 2 unexpected changes for preseason due to Club World Cup

Real Madrid keeps moving forward with its journey in the 2025 Club World Cup. After getting through the group stage and defeating Juventus in the round of 16, the next opponent will be Borussia Dortmund. However, the Madridists could be left out of that competition at any moment.

That's why Xabi Alonso's coaching staff would have decided to work on the first tactical plans for the 25/26 preseason, a preparatory stage that's much more important than it seems. Not only because of the short amount of time before the start of the next league campaign, scheduled for August 19 (19 de agosto), against Osasuna, at Santiago Bernabéu.

In this regard, many have doubts about the schedule that would have been implemented by the new Madridist coaching staff for its first full season. Xabi Alonso himself, at the press conference before the quarterfinal clash against Borussia Dortmund, has revealed that future planning.

After concluding Real Madrid's journey in the Club World Cup, the Tolosa coach understands that "we have to plan ahead" because of the tight time frame. "Everyone will need to rest and train at Valdebebas" ahead of the upcoming soccer season, so "we won't hold training camps abroad" as happened in previous years.

Has several changes to make

Additionally, Xabi Alonso has made it clear that "training sessions will have a reduced schedule, after having made decisions ahead of time with the players". Thus, the preparation for the 25/26 season presents two major differences compared to other preseasons held in the past.

Those training sessions before the start of LaLiga will take place at Real Madrid Sports City, avoiding staying in the United States. The North American country was one of the 'favorite' places for the white squad to hold preseason tours, a situation that now would have been canceled because of the Club World Cup.

To mitigate the impact of the fatigue recorded during that competition organized by FIFA, the coaching staff led by Xabi Alonso would have decided to reduce the training load. Only in this way, by once again adapting the pace to a classic preseason, could the team arrive in the best possible physical condition.

Xabi Alonso's first full season as Real Madrid's coach begins with a major challenge. Not only because of the management he is carrying out during this summer's Club World Cup, but also because of his players' adaptation to an extremely high competitive pace... that barely offers any rest time according to the schedules of both the World Cup itself and LaLiga.