A shocking behind-the-scenes story revealing why Xabi Alonso's (45) Real Madrid collapsed so quickly drew attention.
Spain's Mundo Deportivo quoted Paco González of COPE on the 27th (Korea time), saying the rift between Vinícius Júnior (26) and former coach Alonso began at the June 2025 Club World Cup, before the substitution defiance incident in last October's El Clásico.
The conflict between Vinícius and coach Alonso became fully visible at last October's 2025-2026 La Liga round 10 El Clásico between Real Madrid and Barcelona, held at Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, Spain.
At the time, Vinícius exploded when he was told to be substituted in the 27th minute of the second half while the team led 2-1. Vinícius was caught on camera saying, "Why me?" and "It might be better if I leave now." He went straight to the locker room instead of the bench after being substituted.
In particular, Vinícius directly attacked coach Alonso using Portuguese profanity, and by omitting the coach's name from his apology after the match he signaled to the world that the conflict had not been resolved. But in fact, the conflict had existed four months earlier.
According to the article, Alonso, who took the helm after Carlo Ancelotti left for Brazil, experimented with a best 11 ahead of the 2025 Club World Cup semifinal that sat Vinícius on the bench and deployed Kylian Mbappé and Gonzalo García as a two-forward pairing.
Vinícius was furious at the prospect of being pushed out of the team's core and expressed strong dissatisfaction. Although it seemed to be resolved when Vinícius started the actual match, the once-wounded pride of Vinícius never recovered.
The outlet said, "In the end, this incident was the decisive factor in Alonso losing control of the locker room," and added, "President Pérez sided with Vinícius, and Alonso had to leave Madrid bitterly last January, not even a year into his tenure."
Real is currently playing the season under interim coach Álvaro Arbeloa. But they have fallen further behind title-leading Barcelona in the La Liga race and face the prospect of a second consecutive trophyless season.
OSEN=Reporter Kang Pil-ju