Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso spoke after his team’s 2-1 win against his former club Real Sociedad to assess a hard-fought win, playing for an hour with 10 men. He said, “we’re still looking ahead. We’re happy, but we can’t take anything for granted. There’s room for improvement. We have to keep building. The results are good, but today, playing with one less player for so long, the assessment is that the players have been generous in their sacrifice”.
Xabi Alonso on Huijsen’s red card
“For me, it was a yellow card. Mili was close
by and the ball wasn’t under control. After watching the replay, I haven’t changed my mind. I asked, he gave me his explanation, and I wasn’t convinced. And I’ll leave it at that. It changed the context of the match, and we played with 10 men for 60 minutes. We had chances and scored the second goal to give ourselves some breathing room. The team knew how to sacrifice themselves and put in a generous effort. Winning at Anoeta is always very difficult, and today, if anything, it was even more difficult.”
Xabi Alonso on VAR
“When there are obvious mistakes, I like VAR to intervene, but when there aren’t, I understand that it shouldn’t get involved. I don’t want to make the referee a recurring theme. It’s time to move on.”
Xabi Alonso on the red card changing the game
“It had a big impact. We were able to score at least one goal, and in the second half we had to hold on longer. Then, there’s no doubt about the penalty, obviously. It has a big impact. You have to know how to play with 10 men. It will happen during the year. At one point in the second half, we sank too low, but we recovered and that’s very positive news.”
Xabi Alonso on how Huijsen is feeling
“He was relieved. Obviously angry, but relieved with the victory. These are avoidable actions, there was a lot of space and Oyarzabal didn’t have the ball under control. The gesture could be improved.”
Xabi Alonso on his squad players, like Asencio, Alaba, Fran García
“They all contributed and they’re all ready. We’re going to need them all. We’re entering a period with a lot of matches. It’s essential that everyone feels important.”
Xabi Alonso on his conversation with referee Gil Manzano
“He gave me his interpretation of the sending off. I wasn’t very convinced. Last week I also spoke to him about Arda. With respect, let’s see if the explanations convince me…”
Xabi Alonso on turning to the youth team
“I look at the youth team a lot, I talk a lot with Álvaro [Arbeloa], but we also have players who can play in that position. Alaba, Asencio, Tchouameni, even Carreras… Yesterday I said that everyone had come back well, I wish I hadn’t said that.”
Xabi Alonso on Real Sociedad
“I’ve seen all of Real’s matches and they should have more points. I’m sure the team will improve. They have great players and Sergio [Francisco] is also a great coach. He has a very good eye for moving forward. And the tribute, it was emotional because of what Toshack means to me. It touches me deeply, because he was the first person who gave me the confidence to be a footballer.”
