LONDON: Sevilla boss Diego Alonso has challenged his players to avenge their Champions League loss to Arsenal when the Spanish side meet the Gunners in a crucial Group B clash on Wednesday.
Defeat for the reigning Europa League champions would leave their chances of reaching the Champions League knockout stages hanging by a slender thread.
Arsenal are top of the group after their 2-1 win at Sevilla a fortnight ago, while Alonso’s men sit four points behind them in third place with three games to play.
Alonso believes Sevilla deserved more from their last encounter with Arsenal and he wants his side to prove a point when they face the Premier League title chasers in north London.
“We competed well, with an unfair result for me because we did more for the game,” Alonso told reporters on Tuesday.
Arsenal have lost two of their three domestic games since beating Sevilla, with Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Newcastle an especially painful result given the controversial nature of the Magpies’ winner.
Keen not to rile up Mikel Arteta’s side any further, Alonso was respectful of Arsenal’s quality, rating them as one of Europe’s elite clubs in Europe,
“The game at a strategic and football level is complex,” Alonso said.
“We are facing the fourth or fifth best team in Europe, they showed it last season, same in this one.
“It puts us in difficulties, but it also put us in difficulties two weeks ago.”
Sevilla will be without former Real Madrid star Sergio Ramos after the defender was ruled out with a calf injury.
Sevilla boss Alonso wants to avenge ‘unfair’ Arsenal loss
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Sevilla boss Alonso wants to avenge ‘unfair’ Arsenal loss
- Arsenal are top of the group after their 2-1 win at Sevilla a fortnight ago
- Alonso believes Sevilla deserved more from their last encounter with Arsenal
Xabi Alonso leaves Real Madrid by mutual agreement after seven months
- Real Madrid parted ways with Alonso a little more than seven months after appointing him
- Arbeloa will take over the job immediately and will be on the sidelines on Wednesday
MADRID: Coach Xabi Alonso has left Real Madrid by mutual agreement a day after their 3-2 defeat by bitter rivals Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup, the LaLiga club said on Monday.
“Xabi Alonso will always have the love and admiration of all Real Madrid fans because he is a Real Madrid legend and has represented the values of our club at all times. Real Madrid will always be his home,” the club said in a statement.
They added that second-team manager and former defender Alvaro Arbeloa will take over the first team job.
Real Madrid parted ways with Alonso a little more than seven months after appointing him, following a poor run of results in all competitions.
Former Real midfielder Alonso, who was handed a three-year contract in May after an impressive stint with Bayer Leverkusen, saw his tenure at the Santiago Bernabeu quickly unravel.
The former Spain international had guided Leverkusen to a historic unbeaten campaign to win the Bundesliga title in the 2023-24 season, along with a German Cup triumph and a Europa League final appearance, prompting Real to bring him back to the club as manager.
However, Alonso’s return failed to replicate the success of a fellow former Real Madrid midfielder, Zinedine Zidane, who famously led the club to three consecutive Champions League titles.
His tenure was marred by internal discord, with reports of clashes with senior players, including co-captain Federico Valverde and winger Vinicius Jr.
Real’s poor performances under Alonso included humbling losses to Paris St. Germain in the Club World Cup, to Atletico Madrid in LaLiga, and Liverpool and Manchester City in the Champions League.
Arbeloa will take over the job immediately and will be on the sidelines on Wednesday as Real visit second-division side Albacete in a Copa del Rey round of 16 tie.
After leading LaLiga earlier in the season with a comfortable five-point advantage over old rivals Barcelona, Alonso’s Real collapsed and are now second, four points behind last year’s champions Barca.
Alonso’s appointment was initially seen as a long-term project, but his dismissal signals the club’s impatience with Real falling short of their high standards.
The 44-year-old, who made 236 appearances for Los Blancos as a player between 2009 and 2014, won a LaLiga title, two Copa del Rey trophies, and the club’s long-awaited 10th European crown during his years in midfield.
Alonso also began his coaching career at Real’s academy, managing the Under-14 side to league and tournament success in the 2018-19 season, before progressing to Real Sociedad’s reserve team and then Bayer Leverkusen.
