Xabi Alonso

General

Image gallery

Xabi Alonso
Personal information
Full name:	Xabier Alonso Olano
Date of birth:	25 November 1981 (1981-11-25)
Place of birth:	Tolosa, Spain
Height:	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position:	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Bayer Leverkusen (head coach)
Youth clubs
	Antiguoko Real Sociedad
Senior clubs
Years	Club	App (Gls)
1999–2001 1999–2004 2000–2001 2004–2009 2009–2014 2014–2017	Real Sociedad B Real Sociedad → Eibar (loan) Liverpool Real Madrid Bayern Munich	039 00(2) 114 00(9) 014 00(0) 143 0(15) 158 00(4) 079 00(5)
National team
2000 2002-2003 2003-2014 2001-2012	Spain U18 Spain U21 Spain Basque Country	001 00(0) 009 00(0) 114 0(16) 005 00(0)
Teams managed
2018–2019 2019–2022 2022–	Real Madrid U14 Real Sociedad B Bayer Leverkusen

Xabier Alonso Olano (born 25 November 1981) is a Spanish football manager and former professional player who is currently the head coach of Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen.

Alonso began his career at Real Sociedad, the main team of his home province Gipuzkoa. After a brief loan period at Eibar, he returned to Sociedad where then-manager John Toshack appointed Alonso as his team captain. Alonso succeeded in the role, taking Real Sociedad to second place in the 2002–03 season. He moved to Liverpool in August 2004 for £10.5 million. He won the UEFA Champions League in his first season at the club, under manager Rafael Benítez, scoring the equalising goal in the Final against Milan. The following season, he won the FA Cup and the FA Community Shield. He moved to Real Madrid for the start of the 2009–10 season in a deal worth around £30 million. After five seasons at the club, winning honours including a league title in 2012 and the Champions League in 2014, he was signed by German Bundesliga club Bayern Munich on a two-year contract.

He made his international debut for Spain in April 2003 in a 4–0 victory against Ecuador. While playing for Spain, Alonso has won Euro 2008, Euro 2012 and the 2010 World Cup, and he has also represented his country at Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup. On 23 June 2012, Alonso won his 100th cap for Spain in the quarter-final of Euro 2012 against France; he celebrated the occasion by scoring both of Spain's goals to send them into the semi-finals. Following Spain's failure to progress out of the group stages at the 2014 World Cup, Alonso retired from international football on 27 August 2014. His 114 caps make him the fifth-most capped player in the nation's history.

Honours

Player

Liverpool

• FA Cup: 2005–06
• FA Community Shield: 2006
• UEFA Champions League: 2004–05; runner-up: 2006–07
• UEFA Super Cup: 2005
• FIFA Club World Championship runner-up: 2005

Real Madrid

• La Liga: 2011–12
• Copa del Rey: 2010–11, 2013–14; runner-up: 2012–13
• Supercopa de España: 2012
• UEFA Champions League: 2013–14

Bayern Munich

• Bundesliga: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17
• DFB-Pokal: 2015–16
• DFL-Supercup: 2016

Spain

• FIFA World Cup: 2010
• UEFA European Championship: 2008, 2012

Individual

• Spanish Player of the Year: 2003
• BBC Goal of the Month: November 2004
• FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2011, 2012; 2nd team: 2014; 3rd team: 2013; 4th team: 2015; 5th team: 2016
• La Liga Best Midfielder: 2011–12
• UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2012
• UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2013–14
• Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2014–15

Decorations

• Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit: 2011

Manager

Bayer Leverkusen

• Bundesliga: 2023–24
• DFB-Pokal: 2023–24
• UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2023–24

Individual

• Globe Soccer Best Coach of the Year: 2024
• VDV Bundesliga Coach of the Season: 2023–24
• Football Manager of the Year in Germany: 2024

External links

• Profile on Realmadrid.com
• BDFutbol profile
• National team data
• 2010 FIFA World Cup profile
• LFCHistory.net Profile
• Profile at BBC Sport
• Profile at ESPN
• Transfermarkt profile

Template:Bayer 04 Leverkusen managers Template:Real Sociedad B managers

Spain – UEFA Euro 2004 – Group stage

1. Cañizares 2. Capdevila 3. Marchena 4. Albelda 5. Puyol 6. Helguera 7. Raúl (c) 8. Baraja 9. F. Torres 10. Morientes 11. Luque 12. Gabri 13. Aranzubia 14. Vicente 15. Bravo 16. Alonso 17. Etxeberria 18. César 19. Joaquín 20. Xavi 21. Valerón 22. Juanito 23. Casillas Manager:  Template:Country data Iñaki Sáez

Spain – 2006 FIFA World Cup - Round of 16

1. Casillas 2. Salgado 3. Pernía 4. Marchena 5. Puyol 6. Albelda 7. Raúl (c) 8. Xavi 9. F. Torres 10. Reyes 11. Luis García 12. A. López 13. Iniesta 14. Alonso 15. Ramos 16. Senna 17. Joaquín 18. Fàbregas 19. Cañizares 20. Juanito 21. Villa 22. Ibáñez 23. Reina Manager:   Luis Aragonés

Spain – UEFA Euro 2008 - Winners (2nd Title)

1. Casillas (c) 2. Albiol 3. Navarro 4. Marchena 5. Puyol 6. Iniesta 7. Villa 8. Xavi 9. Torres 10. Fàbregas 11. Capdevila 12. Cazorla 13. Palop 14. Alonso 15. Ramos 16. García 17. Güiza 18. Arbeloa 19. Senna 20. Juanito 21. Silva 22. De la Red 23. Reina Manager:   Luis Aragonés

Spain – 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup – Third place

1. Casillas (c) 2. Albiol 3. Piqué 4. Marchena 5. Puyol 6. Pablo 7. Villa 8. Xavi 9. Torres 10. Fàbregas 11. Capdevila 12. Busquets 13. López 14. Alonso 15. Ramos 16. Llorente 17. Güiza 18. Riera 19. Arbeloa 20. Cazorla 21. Silva 22. Mata 23. Reina Manager:   Vicente del Bosque

Spain – 2010 FIFA World Cup - Winners (1st title)

1. Casillas 2. Albiol 3. Piqué 4. Marchena 5. Puyol 6. Iniesta 7. Villa 8. Xavi 9. F. Torres 10. Fàbregas 11. Capdevila 12. Valdés 13. Mata 14. Alonso 15. Ramos 16. Busquets 17. Arbeloa 18. Pedro 19. Llorente 20. Martínez 21. Silva 22. Navas 23. Reina Manager:   Vicente del Bosque

Spain – UEFA Euro 2012 - Winners (3rd title)

1. Casillas (c) 2. Albiol 3. Piqué 4. Martínez 5. Juanfran 6. Iniesta 7. Pedro 8. Xavi 9. Torres 10. Fàbregas 11. Negredo 12. Valdés 13. Mata 14. Alonso 15. Ramos 16. Busquets 17. Arbeloa 18. Alba 19. Llorente 20. Cazorla 21. Silva 22. Navas 23. Reina Manager:   Vicente del Bosque

Spain – 2014 FIFA World Cup - Group stage

1. I. Casillas (c) 2. R. Albiol 3. Piqué 4. Javi Martínez 5. Juanfran 6. A. Iniesta 7. David Villa 8. Xavi 9. Torres 10. Fàbregas 11. Pedro 12. De Gea 13. Mata 14. Alonso 15. Ramos 16. Busquets 17. Koke 18. Alba 19. Diego Costa 20. S. Cazorla 21. Silva 22. Azpilicueta 23. Reina Manager:   Vicente del Bosque