Former Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello says Xabi Alonso will soon learn what pressure is, when he succeeds Carlo Ancelotti as the club’s new manager.
Alonso leaves German Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the current campaign, and will step in to replace Ancelotti as Real Madrid coach at the end of the month in time to lead the team at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States this summer.
“Xabi Alonso has done some great things. That may be true, but managing Real Madrid is completely different, it’s something else,” Capello said on El Partidazo de Cope. “It’s more difficult and more important.”
Asked if Ancelotti leaves Real as the club’s greatest coach, Capello said of his fellow Italian: “The numbers speak for themselves, people forget that. He had a strong team, and with that strong team, he won. He’s intelligent, he knows how to manage the dressing room, he has charisma… that’s important. And Ancelotti has it.”