Xabi Alonso: New Real Madrid Manager's Impressive Bayer Leverkusen Record | OneFootball

Xabi Alonso leaves Bayer Leverkusen as a club legend after only two full seasons in charge.

Despite being under contract until the summer of 2026, Alonso bid farewell to Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the 2024–25 season to return to the Spanish capital. The 43-year-old is the new manager of Real Madrid, replacing the winningest manager in club history, Carlo Ancelotti.

Alonso has massive shoes to fill, but the Real Madrid icon comes with coaching accolades of his own. The Spaniard took charge of Bayer Leverkusen when the club was in the Bundesliga's relegation zone in Oct. 2022. What followed was a historic run of form.

Bayer Leverkusen went invincible in the 2023–24 Bundesliga season to dethrone Bayern Munich and be crowned the champions of Germany for the first time in club history. Even better, the German outfit went on to secure their first domestic double by winning the DFB-Pokal title.

Although Bayer Leverkusen came up short in the Europa League final the same season, the club still enjoyed an unprecedented unbeaten streak that etched Alonso's name into the club history books.

Xabi Alonso's Record at Bayer Leverkusen

Alonso finished his Bayer Leverkusen career with an impressive 88W-33D-19L record in 140 competitive matches. Under his leadership, the club suffered just 19 defeats in three years, much in part thanks to its record 51-game unbeaten streak across all competitions.

Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen record per season

The Spaniard boasts a win ratio of 65 per cent during his time in Germany. Only Pep Guardiola, Hansi Flick, Carlo Ancelotti and Vincent Kompany have a higher win ratio in Bundesliga history, and they all did so while in charge of Bayern Munich.

In fact, Bayer Leverkusen have earned 204 points from 94 Bundesliga games under Alonso, just seven points shy of Bayern Munich's 210 points across the same period.

Although Bayer Leverkusen won the DFL-Supercup this season, they only managed a 2–2 draw with Stuttgart at the end of regulation time. Since Alonso's men went on to win in a penalty shootout, the official result for the match is counted as a draw.

Alonso will hope to translate his great success in Germany to Real Madrid, but the pressure will be on to deliver not just in La Liga, but in the Champions League as well.