• Super Cup final defeat by Barcelona spells the end
  • Madrid are four points off Catalan club at top of La Liga

Xabi Alonso has left his job as coach of Real Madrid, only seven months after arriving for his first day at the club?s Valdebebas training ground. A brief statement announced his departure ?by mutual consent? on Monday evening after Madrid?s 3-2 defeat in the final of the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona the previous night. He will be replaced at least in the short term by his former Real Madrid and Liverpool teammate and friend ?lvaro Arbeloa, who was coach of Castilla, Madrid?s B team.
Alonso had been on the edge over the last month, with the defeat at Liverpool in the Champions League in early November beginning a run of two victories in eight games which also turned a five-point lead over Barcelona at the top of the table into a four-point deficit. Although results improved, Madrid?s performances did not convince and, with the club unable to find a suitable replacement, the final judgment was always likely to be delivered in Jeddah. Madrid won the semi-final of the Super Cup in Saudi Arabia against Atl?tico Madrid having been outplayed but then lost the final.
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