MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid pulled the trigger and replaced Xabi Alonso with B team manager Álvaro Arbeloa on Monday.
Madrid said Alonso left by mutual agreement but it followed a tumultuous stint that lasted less than eight months and came a day after Madrid lost to Barcelona 3-2 in the final of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Alonso was immediately replaced by Arbeloa — they were teammates for Madrid, Liverpool and Spain and won the World Cup together in 2010.
“Real Madrid wishes to announce that, by mutual agreement between the club and Xabi Alonso, it has been decided to bring his time as first team coach to an end,” a statement said. “Xabi Alonso will always carry the affection and admiration of all Madridistas because he is a Real Madrid legend and has always represented the values of our club. Real Madrid will always be his home.”
The club also thanked Alonso's coaching staff.
Alonso arrived last May under high expectations as Carlo Ancelotti’s replacement and pressure built as the team struggled to play well under his command. He had spats with players such as Vinícius Júnior and widespread media reports said he lost control of the locker room.
Vinícius, and others, complained more than once of being substituted by the coach during matches. Some players publicly supported the coach late last year but the situation didn't appear to improve much.
After Sunday's loss in Jeddah, Alonso appeared to want his team to do a guard of honor for Barcelona during the awards ceremony but Kylian Mbappé and other players called him back and walked away.
Mbappé was the first player to bid farewell to Alonso on Monday. Mbappé praised and thanked Alonso in an Instagram story that accompanied a photo of him and the coach saluting each other.
“It's been short but it was a pleasure to play for you & learn from you,” the France star wrote. “Thank you for giving me the confidence since Day 1. I will remember you as a manager who had clear ideas and knows many things about football. Best of luck for you(r) next chapter.”
Other Madrid players also posted messages thanking Alonso and wishing him luck. Vinícius was not among those publicly bidding farewell to the coach.
Alonso did not immediately make any public comments.
He was at Madrid's helm in 34 matches across all competitions, winning 24, losing six and drawing four.
Madrid won the season's first clasico in October by 2-1 but still trails Barcelona by four points at the halfway point of La Liga. The team's next match is on Wednesday at Albacete in the Copa del Rey round of 16.
As a player, Arbeloa helped Madrid win eight titles from 2009-16, including two European Cups and one Spanish league. Arbeloa also helped Spain win the 2010 World Cup and the 2008 and 2012 European Championships.
The 44-year-old Alonso was in the same Spain team, as well as the Madrid team that won the 2014 Champions League. He won six titles with Madrid from 2009-14.
The 42-year-old Arbeloa had been coaching the B team since June. He also coached youth teams at the club.
Alonso signed in May to June 2028. He'd led Bayer Leverkusen to an unprecedented German league and cup double in his first full season after taking over the team when it was in the Bundesliga relegation zone the season before.
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FILE- Real Madrid's head coach Xabi Alonso gestures during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal soccer match against Atletico Madrid at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)
FILE - Real Madrid's head coach Xabi Alonso looks on ahead of the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Sevilla in Madrid, Spain, on Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
Real Madrid's head coach Xabi Alonso gestures during the Spanish Super Cup final soccer match against FC Barcelona at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday that the death toll in nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 572.
Iran had no direct reaction to Trump's comments, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to foreign diplomats in Tehran, insisted “the situation has come under total control” in remarks that blamed Israel and the U.S. for the violence, without offering evidence.
“That’s why the demonstrations turned violent and bloody to give an excuse to the American president to intervene,” Araghchi said, in comments carried by Al Jazeera. The Qatar-funded network has been allowed to report live from inside Iran, despite the internet being shut off.
However, Araghchi said Iran was “open to diplomacy.” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said that a channel to the U.S. remained open, but talks needed to be “based on the acceptance of mutual interests and concerns, not a negotiation that is one-sided, unilateral and based on dictation.”
Meanwhile, pro-government demonstrators flooded the streets on Monday in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, which appeared to number in the tens of thousands, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Iran's attorney general has said prosecutors will levy such charges against protesters, which carry the death penalty.
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran, including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who weren't authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
Iran, through the country's parliamentary speaker, warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if Washington uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 503 of the dead were protesters and 69 were security force members.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government hasn't offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a violent crackdown. Protesters flooded Tehran's streets and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
At 2 p.m. Monday, Iranian state television showed images of demonstrators thronging Tehran toward Enghelab Square, or “Islamic Revolution” Square in the capital. It had been airing statements all morning from Iranian government, security and religious leaders to attend the demonstration.
It called the rally an “Iranian uprising against American-Zionist terrorism,” without addressing the underlying anger in the country over the nation’s ailing economy. State television aired images of such demonstrations around the country, trying to signal it had overcome the protests.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets were empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
The witness spoke on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at more than 1.4 million to $1, as iran's economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Meanwhile, video circulating online purports to show dozens of bodies in a morgue on the outskirts of Iran’s capital.
People with knowledge of the facility and the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said Monday that the video shows the Kahrizak Forensic Medicine Center.
In the footage, people are seen walking by dozens of bodies in bags laid out in a large room, attempting to identify those there. In some cases, bodies can be seen lying outside on blue tarps. A large truck can be seen in part of the footage.
Julia Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One. Melanie Lidman contributed to this report from Tel Aviv, Israel.
President Donald Trump waves after arriving on Air Force One from Florida, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Activists take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
