In a surprising turn of events, Real Madrid has parted ways with manager Xabi Alonso, just a day after the team suffered a defeat to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final.

Alonso, who is 44, faced mounting scrutiny recently, with whispers of discord within the squad. The loss in El Clasico seemingly sealed his fate.

The club revealed that Alonso, who played 236 matches for Real Madrid during his career, has departed “by mutual agreement.”

In an official statement, the club expressed, “Real Madrid CF announces that, by mutual agreement between the club and Xabi Alonso, it has been decided to end his tenure as first-team coach.”

The statement continued, “Xabi Alonso will forever have the affection and admiration of all Madrid fans as a Real Madrid legend who embodied the values of our club. Real Madrid will always be his home.”

Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso has been sacked less than 24 hours after losing the Spanish Supercup final to Barcelona

Madrid’s B-team coach Alvaro Arbeloa has been appointed as the club’s new head coach

Arbeloa and Alonso played together during their days at Liverpool (Pictured in May 2009 with Jamie Carragher)

The club extended its gratitude to Alonso and his coaching staff for their commitment and efforts, wishing them success in their future endeavors.

The Spaniard leaves the Estadio Bernabeu with Madrid four points adrift of bitter rivals Barcelona, who triumphed in the Supercup on Sunday night thanks to a brace from Raphinha and a classy finish from Robert Lewandowski.

Gonzalo Garcia and Vinicius Jr, who has been at the centre of a reported feud with Alonso for much of this season, scored the Los Blancos goals but it wasn’t enough, despite Barca midfielder Frenkie de Jong being sent off late on.

Alonso shared a brief embrace with Florentino Perez after the final whistle as the defeated Madrid stars picked up their runners-up medals, though the ruthless club chief pulled the plug on the former Bayer Leverkusen boss’ reign just hours later.

Arbeloa, a former World Cup winner with Spain who played for both Madrid and Liverpool, is taking over on a permanent basis. His first game in the dugout will be against Levante at the Bernabeu on Saturday.

‘Real Madrid CF announces that Alvaro Arbeloa is the new first-team coach,’ an announcement, released just minutes after news of Alonso’s sacking broke, read. 

Alonso joined the Spanish giants a mere eight months ago after a hugely successful spell in charge of Leverkusen, where he won the club its first ever Bundesliga title.

Having left at the end of last season, Alonso took over in the Spanish capital in time for the Club World Cup, from which Madrid were knocked out at the semi-finals stage.  

He won 13 of his first 14 domestic games in charge, the only loss – a damning one – coming against Atletico Madrid. 

Madrid lost the Supercup final in Jeddah after a brace from Raphinha and a silky finish from Robert Lewandowski

Some of the Real Madrid players, including Vinicius Jr, were understood to have been unhappy with some of the manager’s methods

However a Champions League defeat to Liverpool in early November proved to be a turning point, with Madrid then going on a dismal run of just two wins in eight games which heaped pressure onto Alonso. 

Rumours of division at Madrid’s Ciudad training complex didn’t help the club legend either, with Spanish papers reporting that up to five players were thought to have been unhappy with his methods. 

It was understood that Thibaut Courtois, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr all had concerns about Alonso’s tactics, specifically his insistence on playing out from the back.

Vinicius in particular appeared less than pleased under the Alonso regime and, after being substituted in El Clasico in late October, was far from shy in venting his frustrations. 

The Brazilian later issued a public apology to his ‘team-mates, the club and its president’, though it failed to dispel speculation that the Madrid manager had lost the dressing room. 

Fede Valverde, the club’s captain, was too rumoured to have doubted Alonso’s methods and even had to debunk speculation that he refused to play during a Champions League game against Kairat Almaty in October. 

It came after Alonso deployed the Uruguayan as a full-back in the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dani Carvajal, with Valverde defiantly claiming ‘I wasn’t born to play right-back’ before the European clash.

Alonso did however bring about an admittedly brief change in fortunes over the festive period, with Los Blancos winning some five games in a row. 

But the upturn in form was not sufficient enough to convince the hierarchy at the Bernabeu to stick with their manager, who will no-doubt be linked with a return to the Premier League in the coming months.