Thibaut Courtois Denies Real Madrid Players Plotted Against Xabi Alonso After Manchester City Win

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has dismissed claims that players in the dressing room worked against former manager Xabi Alonso during his brief spell at the club.

Courtois addressed the speculation after Madrid secured a commanding 3-0 win over Manchester City in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie on Wednesday night.

Alonso arrived at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium last summer following a successful run with Bayer Leverkusen. His early months in charge were encouraging, but results dipped later in the campaign.

Although Madrid recovered enough to reach the Supercopa de España final, a 3-2 defeat to rivals FC Barcelona intensified pressure around the team and eventually led to Alonso’s dismissal in January. Reports soon surfaced suggesting unrest inside the squad.

Courtois has now pushed back strongly against those claims.

“No player set up Xabi Alonso,” Courtois stated, according to Madrid Xtra. “I believe we performed well. They claimed we disliked tactics and videos. … look, I had Antonio Conte who conducted an hour of training every day, and I was present and didn’t mind it because we are professionals and my work is the priority.

“I think the initial months with Xabi were VERY POSITIVE, and then we encountered a slump. This is part of football.”

Naija News reports that Alonso left Madrid without another job lined up but posted a respectable record.

The former midfielder won 24 of his 34 matches in charge across all competitions, losing six, giving him a win rate of 70.59 per cent. That figure surpassed his record at Leverkusen, where he delivered a domestic double during the 2023-2024 season.

On the pitch, Madrid’s latest European outing was dominated by Federico Valverde, who struck his first senior hat-trick to put the Spanish giants in control of the tie.

The return leg will be played at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, with Madrid closing in on a place in the Champions League quarter-finals.