Bayern Munich Alumni: Xabi Alonso making Chelsea tick

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 30: Head Coach Xabi Alonso of Chelsea after his sides 4-3 win during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Chelsea FC and Brighton & Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge on August 30, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images) | Getty Images Albeit they’ve con

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Albeit they’ve conceded five goals from their opening two Premier League matches, Xabi Alonso seems to have Chelsea back on track after a dodgy 2025/26 campaign as the Blues have opened their season with three wins on the bounce. They beat Fulham 3-2 for their Premier League opener, topped Luton Town 2-0 in the Carabao Cup, and most recently beat Brighton and Hove Albion 4-3 in the league. While the former Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid manager will certainly be hoping for more solidity in his

defense, three straight wins is not a bad start to life in the English top flight at all.

Per statistics provided by OptaJoe, Alonso has become only the fourth manager to have his side open up the season with seven or more goals in his first two Premier League matches, and that’s not even counting the scored against Luton Town in the EFL Cup. The other three managers to have done this are Bobby Robson in 1999 with Newcastle United, Michael Laudrup with Swansea City in 2012, and Marcelo Bielsa with Leeds United in 2020. Alonso joins an elite list of managers in a start that’s breathed an air of reassurance after there was heavy speculation as to whether or not he made the right decision to join Chelsea in hi post-Real Madrid job search.

After his unprecedented Bundesliga title campaign with Bayer Leverkusen in the 2023/24 season, Alonso was a man in HIGH demand throughout Europe and he was someone who was even on Bayern’s radar at the time when it became clear they’d need to replace Thomas Tuchel. The who’s who of European giants were all keen to try to line him up as their next manager, but Alonso had made the decision to stay with Leverkusen for the 2024/25 season and then ultimately wound up at Real Madrid to replace Álvaro Arbeloa.

Ironically enough, the pair of Spaniards will not be competing against one another in the Premier League as Arbeloa is currently serving as Fulham manager, though his start to life in England has not gone as swimmingly as it has for Alonso as Fulham lost their opening two league matches of the season, the first of which to Alonso’s Chelsea and the second of which to Sunderland.