One of the standout matches of the fourth round of the UEFA Champions League will take place this Tuesday, pitting Liverpool against Bayer Leverkusen in a fixture marked by the return of the German champions’ manager, Spaniard Xabi Alonso. Amidst speculation over his future in Germany, Alonso will return to what was once his home as a player: Anfield Road.
After making a name for himself with Real Sociedad, the same team where his father, ‘Periko’ Alonso, once played, Xabi Alonso established himself as one of Spain’s most promising midfielders at the dawn of the 2000s. In the summer of 2004, following a remarkable second-place finish in La Liga with the ‘Txuri-Urdin,’ the midfielder from Tolosa made the career-defining move that would change his life.
It’s worth recalling that after Jürgen Klopp announced his departure from Liverpool at the end of the season, the club approached Xabi Alonso to gauge his availability. However, as he himself admitted, he was focused on a single goal: “I was set on winning the Bundesliga. Everything else was secondary at that point.” With several managerial changes likely by the end of the season, it remains uncertain whether Alonso will stay at Bayer Leverkusen or where his next step may take him.
Xabi Alonso’s Refusal of Real Madrid and His Arrival at Anfield
After a transfer window filled with speculation about his future, including a thwarted attempt by Florentino Pérez’s first “Galáctico” Real Madrid to sign him, Alonso was ultimately recruited for about €15 million by a Liverpool side aiming to rebuild under their new manager, Rafa Benítez.
Arriving alongside him were fellow Spaniards Antonio Núñez from Real Madrid, Luis García from Barcelona, and defender Josemi from Málaga. Fernando Morientes, another Real Madrid alumnus, joined them in the winter transfer window, resulting in the team earning the nickname ‘Spanish Liverpool.’
At Liverpool, Xabi Alonso enjoyed a dream period. Known for his long-range passes, defensive prowess, and vision, he quickly added a leadership quality to his midfield role, allowing him to dictate games at Anfield.
With Alonso in control of midfield operations, Rafa Benítez – who had recently led Valencia to two La Liga titles – built a team that was defensively solid and aggressive in attack, featuring players like Jamie Carragher, John Riise, Djibril Cissé, and the charismatic captain Steven Gerrard.
The ‘Miracle’ of Istanbul
Successes came swiftly. The most significant of these came early on. Despite an inconsistent Premier League campaign that saw them finish fifth, the ‘Reds’ presented an entirely different side in the Champions League.
After a nail-biting qualification for the round of 16, courtesy of a late Gerrard goal against Olympiakos on the final matchday of the group stage, Liverpool went on to eliminate Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, and English champions Chelsea, defeating them with a contentious Luis García goal that remains debated as to whether it crossed the line or not.
In the final in Istanbul, they faced Carlo Ancelotti’s formidable AC Milan, reigning champions of Italy and European champions two years earlier, boasting stars like Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf, Kaká, Andriy Shevchenko, and the legendary captain Paolo Maldini. What followed in Istanbul is etched in football history.
A match that seemed all but settled at halftime with Milan leading 3-0 turned into one of the most astonishing turnarounds in the competition’s history. Liverpool scored three goals in seven minutes – the last of them by Alonso himself – sending the game into extra time and then to penalties, where Liverpool’s Polish goalkeeper, Jerzy Dudek, made crucial saves that returned Europe’s top footballing prize to Liverpool after 21 years.
Renewal and the Breakdown of Relations with Benítez
The following season, Benítez’s Liverpool lifted the FA Cup, with Alonso’s influence in the squad growing steadily.
The bond between the two sides reached a peak in June 2007, just after losing to Milan in Athens in the rematch of the ‘Miracle of Istanbul,’ when Alonso signed a five-year contract extension with Liverpool. However, tensions with Benítez began to surface shortly afterwards.
The signings of Javier Mascherano and Lucas Leiva, requested by the Spanish manager, alongside the ultimately unfulfilled wish to bring in Gareth Barry, began to strain their relationship. Dressing room conflicts also played a role in their eventual rift.
“Xabi was a very good player and an intelligent person. But the reason we opted for Gareth Barry was because he could play in three different positions and we needed to sell. Besides, Xabi was already in talks with another club and had an agreement in place. I know the figures,” Benítez explained in an interview this past summer.
Xabi Alonso’s Move to Real Madrid
At the end of the 2008-09 season, in which Liverpool finished second in the Premier League and reached the Champions League quarter-finals, the differences between Alonso and Benítez became irreconcilable. Enticed by Florentino Pérez’s second project at Real Madrid, Alonso submitted a transfer request, a non-binding option players in the English league can invoke when they wish to leave their club.
Ultimately, Real Madrid and Liverpool agreed on a transfer fee of about €30 million, and Alonso returned to Spain, where he would go on to make history once again.
Now, 20 years after first arriving in Liverpool and 15 since his departure, Xabi Alonso returns to Anfield, this time as the manager of a team that, for the first time in their history, have conquered Germany – and he aims to make his mark once more in a stadium he once called home.
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