Xabi Alonso, former midfielder for Real Madrid and Liverpool, has been appointed as Bayer Leverkusen’s new head coach, taking over for Gerardo Seoane, who was fired by the Bundesliga team on Wednesday.
“Bayer and Gerardo Seoane go their separate ways. World and European Champion Xabi Alonso becomes new head coach of the Werkself,” the club said on their Twitter account.
Following Tuesday’s 2-0 Champions League defeat against Porto, Leverkusen officially announced the Swiss coach’s resignation.
Alonso won two European Championships and the 2010 World Cup while playing for Spain. In addition, he won the Champions League with both Liverpool and Real Madrid.
In the 2005 Champions League final, Alonso’s equalizer allowed Liverpool to force extra time and ultimately defeat AC Milan on penalties.
Prior to their relegation at the end of the previous campaign, he oversaw Real Sociedad’s reserve squad in his native Basque region for three years, from May until May. During that period, they were promoted to Spain’s second division for the first time in 60 years.
Seoane left Leverkusen following a succession of dismal performances this season.
Leverkusen have had a terrible season despite the fact that they led the team to Champions League football with a third-place finish the previous year.
They are now second-to-last in the Bundesliga after eight games after being ousted by third-tier SV Elversberg in the first round of the German Cup.
Fernando Carro, the chief executive of Leverkusen, stated on Sunday that Seoane needed to produce “rapid results” after his team’s 4-0 loss to Bayern Munich on Friday.
Adi Huetter, Domenico Tedesco, and former Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel had all been mentioned as Seoane’s replacement candidates.
In each of his three seasons at Bayern Munich, Alonso won the Bundesliga, and he ended his playing career there in 2017.
Although he signed a one-year extension in Spain, he had previously been strongly connected to the coaching role at Borussia Moenchengladbach in March 2021.
On Saturday in the Bundesliga, Leverkusen will play its first game under Alonso’s leadership against Schalke.