In an intriguing match-up of the Premier League’s opening round, Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea and Alvaro Arbeloa’s Fulham meet at Craven Cottage on Monday night.
Alonso and Arbeloa are old friends who played 262 games together for Liverpool, Real Madrid and Spain.
They were also both sacked as managers by Real Madrid last season — Arbeloa in his first senior coaching role after being promoted from the reserve team to replace Alonso, who only lasted until January following a move from Bayer Leverkusen at the end of 2024-25.
Fate bringing them together again now should perhaps have been expected, given how closely their careers have intertwined. It is a new start for both. Alonso was appointed as Chelsea’s new manager in May, with Arbeloa taking over at Fulham in early July.
Arbeloa, 43, following in the footsteps of Alonso, 44, is a long-established trend.
Alonso moved to Liverpool in August 2004, with Arbeloa arriving at Anfield in January 2007. Both then packed their bags for Real Madrid within weeks of each other in the summer of 2009.
Central midfielder Alonso was the first to leave the Bernabeu, joining Bayern Munich in 2014. Arbeloa stayed two more years at Madrid before spending an injury-hit final season of his playing career at West Ham United.
They also shared a pitch on 38 occasions representing Spain — winning the European Championship (2008, 2012) and the country’s first World Cup (2010).
Both hung up their boots at the end of the 2016-17 campaign. In the summer of 2018, Alonso took his first coaching steps in Madrid’s academy, helming the under-13 side. Two years later, Arbeloa arrived at La Fabrica to take charge at the exact same level.
Alonso then coached at Real Sociedad’s B team and at Bayer Leverkusen, where he won the German league and cup double in his debut campaign of 2023-24, losing just one match all season — the Europa League final against Atalanta.
Arbeloa stayed at Madrid, working his way up the ranks before taking over as Real Madrid Castilla manager last summer — the reserve team that plays in Spain’s third tier. Just a few weeks later, Alonso got the first-team job.
For six months they worked close to each other at Madrid’s training facilities, speaking regularly about academy players who Arbeloa had helped develop and who might be ready to step up. Those included forward Gonzalo Garcia and midfielder Cesar Palacios, who have joined Fulham this summer.
As Alonso’s management at Madrid quickly began to be questioned, Arbeloa kept a low profile. In December, with it already well known that Perez was considering a change, reporters at a Castilla press conference asked if he believed Alonso was doing a good enough job.
“Xabi is an exceptional coach,” Arbeloa replied. “At any team, there are ups and downs. But if anyone thinks Real Madrid is dead, they’re very mistaken, as they don’t know Real Madrid.”
Arbeloa’s only experience of senior coaching has come at Real Madrid and their reserves (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
As speculation continued that Perez would fire Alonso and ask Arbeloa to take over, Alonso was asked if he saw his former team-mate as a potential Madrid manager.
“In the future, he could be,” Alonso replied. “He’s doing things very well. We talked (today) more about the (Castilla) players who are coming with us tomorrow. We didn’t talk about anything else.”
When Perez did decide to make the change — the day after a narrow defeat by Barcelona in the Supercopa de Espana final in Saudi Arabia on January 11 — Arbeloa was asked about his predecessor in his first press conference as Madrid’s new coach.
“You all know the relationship we have, how much I appreciate and care for him,” Arbeloa said.
“It’s mutual and always will be. He wished me the best, and I’d do the same if the roles were reversed. Our friendship comes before everything. We spoke for a long time yesterday, and I wished him well because he’s a fantastic coach. I’m sure he’ll do great things in the future. We’ll always be close, as we have been all these years.”
Arbeloa and Alonso examining the World Cup trophy after Spain’s victory in 2010 (Christophe Simon/AFP via Getty Images)
This closeness has often been apparent on and off the field over their careers.
Most obviously, both Arbeloa and Alonso were criticised for overly physical tackles on Lionel Messi and other Barca players during Jose Mourinho’s controversial first spell as Madrid manager from 2010 to 2013.
A more private personality, Alonso was usually more diplomatic in public. Arbeloa, by contrast, really enjoyed defending Madrid in the media against enemies both real and perceived, revelling in his ‘The Spartan’ nickname and earning a reputation as a loyal servant of Bernabeu boss Perez.
Arbeloa’s high-profile clashes on the pitch with Barca players who were Spain team-mates led national team coach Vicente del Bosque to leave him out of plans for the 2014 World Cup.
When the defender announced his international retirement on Twitter in May that year, Alonso publicly replied: “Truffles, we’ll miss you. If we win another star, I’ll give one of your strange Spartan roars.”
The ‘Truffles’ nickname dates from their days together at Liverpool. Alonso jokingly came up with the moniker after his team-mate made a bad pass during a training drill — in Spanish, a trufa (truffle) can be a slang term for a badly struck shot or pass.
During and after their playing careers, the pair also spent time together away from the pitch. In September 2015, they and their partners spent holidays in Capri. Two years later, they both competed in the Behobia-San Sebastian 20km cycling race.
Alonso pictured on the touchline during Chelsea’s pre-season friendly with Real Sociedad (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
But their spells as Madrid first-team coach last season showed some stark contrasts in their management styles.
Alonso took a coolly rational approach to the job, issuing detailed tactical instructions and maintaining a distance from his players, even his big-name Galactico attackers. A wish to control many aspects around the first team also led to difficulties at a club not accustomed to such an approach.
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Arbeloa explicitly used very different methods after he took over in January, regularly massaging the egos of his big-name players in public and allowing them more decision-making freedom on the pitch. Political skills were also noticeable as he accepted conditions imposed from on high, such as bringing back veteran physical trainer Antonio Pintus, a favourite of president Perez.
The former full-back was also much more eager than Alonso to follow the club’s line in heavily criticising referees alleged to be biased against them.
That abrasive approach also came through when Arbeloa was coaching in Madrid’s academy, including multiple clashes with Fernando Torres, another former Spain and Liverpool team-mate, who was then starting his coaching career in Atletico Madrid’s youth ranks. Torres, 42, is now in charge of Atletico’s reserves.
Arbeloa’s fiery side has already been on show since joining Fulham. During a 2-2 friendly draw at Malaga on August 12, he was shown a red card for remonstrating towards the referee as Malaga equalised via a late penalty. Fulham’s players then followed their new boss down the tunnel, while Malaga stayed on the pitch for a penalty shootout they said had been agreed in advance.
Alonso’s more introspective personality has been seen in his first weeks at Chelsea too. He told The Athletic last month that he carried a metaphorical “scar” from his Madrid experience but said it was already “healed”.
When Alonso marked his return to coaching at Chelsea’s training ground with an Instagram post on July 10, a quick response came from Arbeloa, who had been confirmed as Fulham’s new head coach three days before.
Will a bond built over two decades, and tested at the Bernabeu over the past 12 months, survive 90 minutes of Premier League action?
The pre-game handshake at Craven Cottage on Monday night will surely be warm and emotional, before what will remarkably be the first time Alonso and Arbeloa meet as opponents.
