Bringing it back home with Real intentions

Real Madrid's Xabi Alonso talks to David Hytnerabout the El Gran Clasico, his exiting of Anfield and Thierry Henry's infamous handball

XABI ALONSO has one question at the very start. “Is this going to be all about Liverpool or is it going to be about Real Madrid and El Gran Clasico, too?” he says, with no little wariness. Liverpool are out of the Champions League. Their hopes of a first Premier League title in two decades are perilously slim and many people, including the captain Steven Gerrard, believe that Alonso’s summer departure has been the key contributing factor. A pause. “Well, Xabi, you see the thing is . . . ”

Alonso is engaging conversation. The Spaniard talks about a range of subjects, from his relationship with Rafael Benitez and his own desire to consider a future career in management to the sympathy that he feels for the Republic of Ireland over the Thierry Henry handball controversy.

“So many times, football is really unfair,” he says. He cannot wait to face Henry and Barcelona at Camp Nou tomorrow in his first fixture for Real against their greatest rivals and one that is loaded with personal significance. The 28-year-old’s father, Periko, played for Barcelona in the mid-80s, alongside Diego Maradona and Bernd Schuster, and he won the La Liga title with them in 1985.

It is Liverpool, though, that simultaneously opens the door to beautiful memories and brings the shutters down. “It was absolutely the toughest decision of my career to leave,” he says, “because the club had given so much to me. I grew up a lot as a professional and as a person in Liverpool, and I have very strong links to the club and the city. My son was born in Liverpool and I felt very comfortable within the city and with the lifestyle. I’m also still in contact with the lads and not just the Spanish ones but the other players – Mascherano, Carra, Stevie, all of them – because we are not just former team-mates, we are really good friends.”

It was as much Alonso’s class and culture as a person as that which he routinely showed in the Liverpool midfield for five seasons that made him a favourite at Anfield. The last thing he wants to do now is endanger the bond he created with supporters and team-mates alike by being seen to put the boot in. As his friends suffer and he reflects on how a bad start can so quickly snowball, Alonso’s analysis is both measured and encouraging.

“Last season, when we challenged for the title, the team was very gelled,” he says. “It was very solid, very compact and not just in defence, in attack as well. We were scoring so many goals. This time, there have been quite a lot of factors (behind the struggles) and one, of course, is that they are coping with lots of injuries. In the first few games they had a few bad results and once the start is not good, it’s difficult to recover. But I think they are a very strong squad and as long as everyone is fit, it could mean that they have a good run of wins.”

Liverpool play the Merseyside derby at Everton tomorrow and they start the weekend 13 points off the title pace.

“It is a lot to make up,” Alonso says, “but probably, they are not thinking about the top. They are thinking more about going step by step and trying to reach the top four. That should be the priority right now, to get into the top four.”

Alonso’s departure from Anfield had been signposted for 12 months, maybe even longer when you remember the flashpoint from March 2008 when he missed the second leg of the Champions League last-16 tie against Internazionale at San Siro to be with his wife as she gave birth to their son. Benitez, who missed his own father’s funeral because of Liverpool’s commitments at the 2005 Club World Championship in Japan, was exasperated with Alonso, and the cracks began to show.

“I was happy with the decision that I took and I would do it again,” says Alonso, whose wife is expecting their second child in April. “I have no regrets.”

The summer of 2008 witnessed Benitez’ unsuccessful pursuit of Gareth Barry and his damaging decision to listen to offers for Alonso.

“I’ve said this before but it took me some time to accept that decision and, as well, it changed my situation for the future at Liverpool,” Alonso says. He would stay, as Barry would at Aston Villa that summer, and he would go on to enjoy arguably his finest season at Liverpool. But when Real called in August, after much soul-searching, Alonso knew that he had to leave. He went with the Kop’s blessing. Benitez, the hard-headed businessman, had turned a profit of almost €22 million.

“Our relationship was totally professional, the way it had to be between a manager and a player, nothing more than that,” says Alonso, before being asked if Benitez preferred to operate with a distance between himself and his players. “Yes, he is that way, that’s the way he behaves. He was successful in that way at Valencia and he’s been partly successful like that at Liverpool. You have to accept him that way. He is a very good manager and I have always been very grateful for the chance that he gave me five years ago. I respect him a lot.”

If Alonso is the thinking man’s footballer, then it is easy to see him relishing the more complex demands of management.

“You think about what you’re going to do and it could be an option, it might happen,” he says. “Being a manager is so different to being a footballer, it’s a very difficult job but, of course, it’s very exciting as well.”

His current focus is all about the challenge at Camp Nou tomorrow, a fixture featuring the world’s best players; Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka for Real, Lionel Messi for Barcelona.

Alonso spent three years living in Barcelona during his father’s time at the club and his Basque roots might also point to an anti-Madrid bias.

“My family have absolutely no problem about me playing for Real Madrid,” he says with a smile. “They have become Real Madrid fans. I have seen videos of my father playing for Barcelona against Real Madrid and it’s kind of nice to turn the situation on its head.

“This season is special because the Champions League final is at Bernabeu and the club have had a lot of disappointments in the competition over the last five years. Ours is a very big project and there is still a way to go but we will get there.”

Guardian Service