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Alonso and Real Madrid

When Xabi Alonso took over the coaching position at Real Madrid, the glory and intrigues that had been intertwined for fifteen years hovered over the Bernabeu.

The 43-year-old tactical master wrote a legend here as a player and made a comeback as a coach, stepping precisely on the pulse of the power transition at Real Madrid with every step.

From 2009 to 2014, Alonso played 236 games in the white shirt, won the Champions League, La Liga and two Copa del Rey titles, which are enough to make any player go down in history.

What's more cruel is that he was willing to stay in Real Madrid's youth training camp for a year, calling it "career planning", but in fact it was a move on the power chessboard in advance - the first-team coach's throne was his prey.

Alonso's most powerful skill is his "political survival skills".

He bid farewell to the Bernabeu twice, once as a player, defected to Bayern, and once as a coach to Real Sociedad, but he always made Real Madrid President Florentino Perez look at him differently.

This ability to be at ease in the center of the vortex is a "rare species" in the football world.

This thorough understanding of Real Madrid inside and out became his "password" to become Real Madrid's head coach.

In mid-June, the battle of the Club World Cup in the United States was the "mission" he had to win as a new official.

But to understand this power game, we have to go back to that crazy summer.

In 2009, Perez took power for the second time and spent 35 million euros to dig Alonso from Liverpool.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Kaka, who joined at the same time, formed the "Galactico II" and aimed directly at their arch-rival Barcelona.

In April 2011, under Jose Mourinho's iron-blooded tactics, Alonso sat in the midfield and led the team to overturn Barcelona in the King's Cup final.

The following year, Real Madrid topped the La Liga with a record 100 points and 121 goals.

However, Mourinho's radical style has plunged Real Madrid into a whirlpool of public opinion: he scolded the referee, scolded UEFA, and even poked the eyes of Barcelona assistant coach Tito Vilanova in the national derby.

The locker room bosses Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos led the "rebellion", but Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa were like Mourinho's "death warriors", standing firm in the center of the storm.

"Following Mourinho, I dug the first pot of gold in coaching." When the conflict intensified in 2012, Alonso openly supported him, saying "The devil's details are hidden under his violent temper", which fully expressed his philosophy of survival in the workplace.

After Mourinho left, Carlo Ancelotti brought a management style that was gentle and caring, and Alonso was still the mainstay of the midfield.

In the 2014 Champions League final, although he was suspended and watched from the sidelines, he ran wildly on the sidelines in a suit and tie to celebrate Gareth Bale's lore - Real Madrid won the tenth championship, and he knew better than anyone what this trophy meant to him.

Who could have expected that Alonso, who had just renewed his contract, would turn around and join Guardiola's Bayern.

His farewell declaration of "leaving is the hardest decision" is still ringing in my ears, but he used his actions to stage a real-life "betrayal", which made Perez say he couldn't understand it.

After retiring, Alonso returned to Real Madrid's youth training camp and led the U14 team to a terrifying record of 22 wins and 1 tie in 23 games.

Just when everyone thought he would take over the U18 team, he chose to return to Real Sociedad B team.

This move of "retreating to advance" is a brilliant move - honing coaching skills in small leagues, accumulating human resources, and lying dormant for several years just to wait for the call from the Bernabeu.

In Leverkusen, Alonso ushered in the highlight of his coaching career.

He led the team to win the championship without losing and reached the Europa League final, instantly becoming a "hot commodity" in European football.

Bayern and Liverpool threw olive branches, but he did not respond.

Because he knew in his heart that only the position of Real Madrid coach was worthy of his ambition.

Over the years, Alonso's "scheming" has been everywhere: after transferring to Bayern, he praised Manuel Neuer and belittled Casillas; he colluded with an agency with close ties to Real Madrid in Germany; in 2019, there were even rumors of a "second return" with Mourinho. But the amazing thing is that these "little thoughts" not only did not make him fall out of favor, but instead made Perez see the wisdom of his "indirect loyalty".

Now back at the Bernabeu, Alonso is surrounded by his own people: Dani Carvajal, Luka Modric and other old comrades are still there.

David Alaba, his partner during the Bayern period, is also in the team; Jacobo Ramon, the young player he coached seven years ago, has joined the first team; even Sebastian Parrilla, his former youth training assistant, is also there.

However, the position of Real Madrid coach is the most difficult position in the world.

The lessons of Rafa Benitez and Julen Lopetegui are still fresh in our minds. They fell under the media's criticism and the undercurrents in the locker room.

캡토토 gives the answer. If Alonso wants to gain a firm foothold, he must learn to find a third way between Mourinho's sharpness and Ancelotti's smoothness.

"The most terrifying thing about him is that he always knows when to hold back and when to let go," said an industry insider. This insight helped him reach the pinnacle of his career.

Now coaching Real Madrid, he not only wants to prove his tactical ability, but also wants to use victory to declare to the world: Xabi Alonso is the destined "savior" of the Bernabeu.

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Sunderland return to the Premier League

Introduction

This was a life-and-death battle for promotion to the Premier League worth 220 million pounds. The 19-year-old Tom Watson scored a winning goal in his farewell match to help Sunderland, which had experienced an eight-year slump, return to the Premier League. This young team, with an average age of only 23.4 years old, wrote a miracle with their feet.

This season's Championship League is enough to go down in history. Two teams with 100 points were born in the standings. Leeds United beat Burnley to win the championship with the advantage of goal difference, and the two teams entered the Premier League together.

The competition for the remaining spot is even more intense. Compared with the mutual concessions in the German Second Division, Hamburg has not forgiven the Bundesliga for seven years. The temptation of the Premier League is too great. Luton has experienced two consecutive relegations from the Premier League to English League One and is also worth a look.

According to the new Premier League broadcasting share, the team ranked last will also receive a share of 220 million pounds.

From the perspective of economic benefits, this is a match worth 220 million pounds, which is full of gold content, and the benefits obtained are even greater than the Champions League final.

In the early morning of May 25th, Tokyo time, Sunderland and Sheffield United staged the final showdown at Wembley Stadium. Both teams used red and white striped shirts as the main colors. Sheffield United has been a regular in the Premier League in recent years, while Sunderland has experienced the lowest point. Since being relegated from the Premier League 8 years ago, they have encountered financial crises, relegation to the English League One, and player loss, but the only constant among countless variables is the support of local fans.

For this reason, the documentary "Sunderland 'Til I Die" was born. Inspired by this documentary, Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds and star producer Mike Henry bought Wrexham, a team in the English National League at the time, and made a documentary "Welcome to Wrexham". Now they have been promoted to the English Championship, and Sunderland has realized its dream of entering the Premier League.

A Hollywood drama is being staged on the football field.

The process of this play-off can be described as ups and downs. Sunderland was founded in 1879 and Sheffield United was founded in 1889. The history of the two teams combined is 282 years, which is older than the teams in the Champions League final, Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain.

The two teams are very close in terms of ranking and value, plus the temptation of 200 million profit share, this is destined to be a fierce and difficult game. In the 25th minute, Sheffield United scored a goal by Campbell. Sunderland did not equalize the score until the 75th minute. Mayanda equalized the score with a powerful shot.

The two teams then fell into a stalemate and the game had to go into overtime. In the 95th minute, Sunderland's Tom Watson killed the game. The 19-year-old young player had only scored three goals in the entire professional league, including this priceless goal.

This game was also his farewell match. In April, Brighton officially announced that they had signed Watson for 10 million pounds, which means that Watson earned 230 million pounds for Sunderland in this month.

When the final whistle sounded, the entire Wembley Stadium was in a frenzy. The Black Cats Sunderland returned to the Premier League after 8 years of lows. This young team quietly ushered in a revival.

The core of the team is Job Bellingham, who is only 20 years old. He has an older brother who is the core midfielder of Real Madrid, and his younger brother led the team to promotion. Bellingham has failed to win any of the four major titles in Real Madrid this season. Both of them have bright futures.

Jobe was elected the best young player of the season in the Championship and was also shortlisted for the Championship's best team. Jobe's midfield partner is Chris Rigg, who is only 17 years old. The oldest player in the team's main lineup is 30-year-old central defender O'Nien.

The average age of the team is only 23.4 years old. The team's salary ranks fifth from the bottom in the Championship, but they relied on their fighting spirit to fight their way out of the play-offs where the giants were rampant. After the game, O'Nien cried and said: "These young people wrote miracles with their feet. We deserve a place in the Premier League."

Sunderland, with limited financial resources, may not dare to increase investment even if they have a guaranteed income of 200 million pounds. They don't want to repeat Luton's mistakes. Club chairman David Jones once said: "We want to become a beacon of football in the northeast of England. In the next three years, the investment in youth training will double. The goal is to cultivate the next Jordan Henderson."

With the growth of Jobe, Reece and others, this goal seems not far away. The team's top priority next season is to avoid relegation, but these young people are also coveted by various powerful teams. Can Jobe and Reece be retained?

Can the players trained by the youth training system quickly compete in the Premier League?

cab도메인 Analysis These are the real problems facing Sunderland, but compared with 200 million pounds, these are nothing. It's time to show everyone's identity as Sunderland fans for 30 years.
Modric's 13 years at Real Madrid

On May 22, 2025, 39-year-old Croatian midfielder Luka Modric announced on social media that he would leave Real Madrid after the Club World Cup, where he had played for 13 years, and put an end to his Real Madrid career.

Just after the 38th round of La Liga, he officially bid farewell to the Bernabeu Stadium and received tributes from fans and opponents.

His departure not only marked the end of an era, but also moved countless fans to this "midfield artist" who was both elegant and tenacious.

This young man born in Croatia has become one of the world's top midfielders step by step. Modric's time at Real Madrid is filled with countless highlights and glory. Follow 캡사이트's perspective to review his thirteen-year career at Real Madrid!

From challenge to legend

In 2012, Modric joined Real Madrid from Tottenham for 35 million euros. At that time, he was questioned whether he could adapt to the rhythm of La Liga due to his thin body.

However, he quickly conquered the Bernabeu with his accurate passing, excellent control and tireless running.

In 2014, he formed the world-famous "bermuda triangle" with Kroos and Casemiro, opening the golden age of Real Madrid's three consecutive Champions League titles (2016-2018), becoming the most dominant midfield combination in football history.

In the 13 years he played for Galactico, Modric won 28 trophies with the club (6 Champions League titles, 4 La Liga titles, 5 Club World Cup titles, 5 European Super Cup titles, 5 Spanish Super Cup titles, 2 King's Cup titles, 1 FIFA Intercontinental Cup title).

He is one of only five people who have won the Champions League six times, and is also the player with the most titles in Real Madrid's history.

Personal honors include winning the Ballon d'Or, FIFA Player of the Year, and UEFA Player of the Year in 2018, breaking the ten-year monopoly of Messi and Ronaldo; being selected into the FIFA Best Team 6 times and the Champions League Best Midfielder 2 times.

So far, he has played 590 games for Real Madrid, contributing 43 goals and 95 assists, and has gone down in history as the "midfield brain".

Humility and loyalty

Even at the age of nearly 40, Modric still maintains top competitive form.

In the 2024-25 season, he played 56 times as a rotation player, contributed 4 goals and 9 assists, and even became a "full-time warrior" in the team's injury wave.

He took the initiative to reduce his salary and renew his contract many times, and rejected the sky-high contract of the Saudi League, just to spend the rest of his life in Real Madrid.

However, due to the youth strategy, the club did not respond to his renewal request in the end, but Modric will still play in this summer's World Club Champions Cup and have the opportunity to end his career with the championship honor.

The journey ahead - the warriors never end

Modric has not chosen to retire. He still has the opportunity to captain Croatia in the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and continue his national team record of 186 appearances (the first in history).

Although Saudi Arabia, MLS and other leagues have offered olive branches, he said: "The next stop in my football career has not yet been decided, but the memory of Madrid will never fade."

Real Madrid officials also said that they will keep in touch with him as an ambassador in the future.

With Casemiro leaving the team in 2022 and Kroos retiring in 2024, Modric's farewell announces the end of the legendary era of Real Madrid's "bermuda triangle".

Modric not only defines success with trophies, but also reshapes the benchmark of modern midfield with humility, loyalty and artistic football".

His departure is an inevitable choice for Real Madrid's renewal, but it also leaves a timeless legend of persistence and love for football.

Modric's legend began with talent, was built with tenacity, and ended with respect.

When the lights of the Bernabeu were lit for him for the last time, the No. 10 jersey stained with mud will become the most moving poem in football history.
Neymar officially joins Al-Hilal

On August 14, according to the confirmed news given by Romano, the Neymar team has flown to the Riyadh area of Saudi Arabia and is about to sign a cooperation contract with the Al-Hilal team.

At the same time, PSG also gave the green light to approve the transfer without any objection. After all, they can also receive a refund of nearly 100 million euros, which is of great benefit to lifting financial fairness restrictions and continuing to cooperate with Mbappe. Nasser is happy this time.

According to the new news, Neymar's annual salary for joining Al-Hilal is 100 million euros after tax, and he will sign a contract for two years. It can be said that it is such a huge salary that attracted the Brazilian superstar to join him. He no longer has dreams in Europe and has begun to come to Saudi Arabia to formally seek gold.

The 31-year-old Neymar plays as a left winger. Since his debut at Santos Club in Brazil, he has played in Barcelona for four seasons and won many championships with the team. The MSN combination built with Messi and Suarez is also famous all over the world. At that time, he was the main candidate for the third pole of the World Greenery Competition, and he was after Messi and Ronaldo.

However, in the summer of 2017, Neymar left Barcelona and moved to Paris Saint-Germain. Breaking the world football transfer value record at that time was also something the world did not expect. In 173 games played by Paris Saint-Germain, he scored 118 goals and sent 77 assists. The overall performance is still very good.

Originally, the contract between Neymar and Paris would expire in two years, but due to the sky-high price offered by Saudi Arabia, he chose to leave the main stage in Europe and go to the Middle East. After Neymar joined Al-Hilal, this team has gathered five European football stars including Neymar, Milinkovic-Savic, Ruben Neves, Malcolm and Coulibaly. Top star. And these five players are all at their peak.

It can be said that even if their technical and tactical level is placed in Europe, they can still compete with strong teams. This combination is indeed too good. In terms of the predicted value of the transfer market alone, the combination of these five players exceeds 200 million euros, which is higher than the total value of many small and medium-sized clubs in the five major leagues. This shows how "extreme" the attributes of the Saudis are.

Lost to Al-Nassr led by Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League in the Arab region, 캡주소 believes that the owner of Al-Hilal was angry, and then he signed the story of PSG Neymar. The arms race has indeed begun.
The worst team in the summer window

After all, Caicedo and Lavia firmly chose to go to Chelsea. Gabri Veiga, another long-term target, is getting closer and closer to Naples. Liverpool failed completely. The owner Henry went to Stamford Bridge to watch the game in person, but it didn't make any difference. , the new sports director Schmatke faced the embarrassment of failing to pass the new job.

Or in the long run, Liverpool missed last summer's Joan Armeni, this summer's Bellingham, plus the Caicedo & Lavia incident, the team's attractiveness and signings plan in the market His credibility was almost lost under repeated blows, and the contest with Real Madrid and Chelsea was declared a failure.

What is even more embarrassing is that the current Liverpool is like a headless chicken in the transfer market. After losing Caicedo and about to lose Lavia, Liverpool urgently needs to come up with a new team that can reverse the situation. program, but so far, people haven't seen this.

Interest in Eindhoven midfielder Sangaray has recently been re-mentioned. The main contenders are Nottingham Forest. According to CAB주소, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are also interested in him, but no offers have been made.

It is worth mentioning that, apart from the fact that Caicedo and Lavia have not been tested by the Premier League, according to reports, there is a liquidated damages clause of 37.5 million euros (32 million pounds) in Sangaray's contract. Even if he is finally dealt with, Liverpool will inevitably leave people with the impression that they can only sign players with liquidated damages.

What's more, you can even imagine such a suffocating scene. Liverpool paid Sangaray's liquidated damages to beat Nottingham Forest, Eindhoven agreed to transfer, and the player himself claimed that he only wanted to join Bayern, or only Join PSG.

It is worth mentioning that Sangaray has also received strong attention from Manchester United before, but Manchester United has locked in Amrabat, who Liverpool had previously wanted, in this position.

Other midfield targets remain unchanged from before the Caicedo & Lavia incident broke out. There is a liquidated damages in Andre’s contract. The team’s intention is to hit the Copa Libertadores. Therefore, the most reasonable transfer time for players is the winter window. What's more, the adaptation period of a Brazilian player in Europe also needs to be counted. Crystal Palace midfielder Ducure and Fulham midfielder Palinha do not require an adaptation period, but the asking prices of the two clubs are more expensive than the other.

What's more, some media and fans' voices suggested that Liverpool buy Joan Armeni to enrich the No. 6 position. But what is embarrassing is that this transfer rumor can be summed up in three sentences: 1. Liverpool still pays attention to Joan Armeni for a long time, and their interest in him has not diminished since then, and they are ready to wait for an opportunity to restart this signing; 2. Real Madrid will not sell; 3. Players will not come.