Real Madrid’s Xabi Alonso brushes off sack rumours amid Vinicius Junior feud

Real Madrid head coach Xabi Alonso has dismissed speculation linking him to a potential sacking, insisting he is focused solely on training and match performance.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Olympiacos, Alonso appeared unbothered by reports suggesting that some players question his position at the club.

“I don’t think about that. I focus on what happens in training and on the pitch, that’s all that matters. Everything else, I don’t care about,” he said.

“My message is reaching the players. I think the players understand the instructions very well.”

Vinicius Junior, the Brazilian winger of Cameroonian heritage, has emerged at the centre of tension, refusing to extend his contract while the relationship with Alonso remains strained.

Sources indicate Vinicius raised the issue privately with club president Florentino Perez, apologising for his behaviour during Real Madrid’s recent Clasico win against Barcelona.

The 25-year-old reacted angrily after being substituted, leaving the field while shouting, “Always me, I’m leaving the team, it’s better if I leave, I’m leaving,” a moment that highlighted the ongoing friction.

Alonso acknowledged the on-pitch disputes but downplayed personal conflict, citing normal competitive behaviour among elite players.

“Vini saying ‘it feels like we don’t want to win’ and Mbappé saying ‘we need to press higher up’? That’s normal behaviour on the pitch, these things happen.”

The relationship between coach and forward has been under strain since Madrid’s Club World Cup semi-final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, when Alonso initially planned to leave Vinicius out of the squad.

The winger started only due to injuries and in an unfamiliar position, intensifying frustration that has carried into the current campaign, where he has begun four of seventeen matches on the bench.

Contract negotiations have stalled amid the feud, with Real Madrid offering a net salary increase of around twenty million euros per season.

Vinicius’s representatives reportedly requested a historic package near thirty million euros, including record-level bonuses.