Real Madrid was eliminated from the Champions League and also lost the Copa del Rey final. A heavy defeat against Arsenal and then a loss to Barcelona in the Copa final made Carlo Ancelotti feel his time in Madrid was over.

Florentino Pérez, who would never admit to making a mistake in failing to find a replacement for Toni Kroos or not signing a new defender in January despite injuries to Militão, Carvajal, and Alaba, suddenly became convinced that a coaching change was necessary. To restore Vinícius, Mbappé, Rodrygo, and Ceballos to their ideal form, a coach like Xabi Alonso was needed. The Basque-born coach, with his outstanding performance in the Bundesliga and his impeccable history at Real Madrid, seemed like the perfect candidate to take charge of Real.

Meanwhile, Xabi suddenly rushed. He decided to announce his departure from Leverkusen so that fans could give him a proper farewell in his last home game against Dortmund on Sunday.

Despite the defeat in that game, the fans gave him a magnificent reception. Alonso had succeeded in turning Leverkusen into the second-best team in Germany and a respected team in Europe. But it didn’t matter to him that his announcement came just 48 hours before El Clásico, which Real needed to win La Liga.

He thought of himself (because it was before his last home game) and paid no attention to Ancelotti’s declining credibility, and here, Real’s players all realized that Carlo’s time was up. What was the result? Rodrygo withdrew, Vinícius was substituted when he wanted, and the rest is now part of history.