Xabi Alonso is waiting just like everyone else to see who will coach Real Madrid next season. “I respect what happens in other clubs,” the Bayer Leverkusen coach said. Alonso is widely expected to return to Madrid — where he played from 2009-14 — and take over if current coach Carlo Ancelotti departs at the end of the season.

Incoming Real Madrid head coach Xabi Alonso has set his sights on the signature of a long-time transfer target on the part of Los Blancos’ arch rivals, Barcelona.That’s according to Mundo