In response, club president Florentino Perez hired Alonso and sanctioned around €180million (£155m; $210.5m) to be spent on new players, including defenders Dean Huijsen, Alvaro Carreras and Trent Alexander-Arnold, along with exciting young Argentine playmaker Franco Mastantuono.

Real Madrid will face Osasuna on August 19, the final La Liga game in round 1 of the 2025-26 season. Xabi Alonso will get his debut season underway at the Santi

Kylian Mbappé opened his LaLiga account for Real Madrid with a composed second-half penalty, securing a narrow 1–0 win over Osasuna in Xabi Alonso’s first league game in charge.

Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens break down the good and the bad from Xabi Alonso's winning start to Real Madrid's LaLiga campaign. The pair also discuss all the latest transfer news, as the Alexander Isak saga continues and Eberechi Eze looks set to pick Arsenal over Tottenham.

Real Madrid got their 2025-26 La Liga campaign off to a winning start, beating Osasuna 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu. Kylian Mbappe scored from the spot early in the second half to give Xabi Alonso's side all three points.

The final two teams to begin their La Liga campaigns get underway as Real Madrid and Osasuna meet at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday.