Xabi Alonso officially began his work as Real Madrid head coach, Topsport reported.
The Spaniard led the "white ballet" for their first training session at the Valdebebas training center and marked the symbolic beginning with an inspiring message.
"I will only have the opportunity to coach Real Madrid once in my life and today is the first day", said Alonso, who is returning to the club after 11 years. He wore the "Los Blancos" team as a player between 2009 and 2014.
The task facing the former Bayer Leverkusen coach is not easy at all - this week the team leaves for the Club World Cup. His preparation began with limited resources - only four healthy players from the first team fully participated in the first session: Fran Garcia, Lucas Vazquez, Dani Ceballos and the young Raul Asensio.
Among the participants were also players recovering from injuries - Rodrigo, Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal and David Alaba. The latter trained with a knee bandage, but did not take full part. Nine juniors from the academy also participated in the session.
"I have a clear idea of how I want to play, but the scheme will adapt according to the situation. I want the team to be connected to the fans. Even with just four players - and three of them defenders - we will work hard," Alonso added.
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Source: topsport.bg