Alonso Weighs Formation Changes Ahead of La Liga Opener

The long-awaited arrival of coach Xabi Alonso was cheerfully celebrated by Real Madrid fans in May, as the former club great came with high expectations following his trophy-laden stint at Bayer Leverkusen after Carlo Ancelotti headed to Brazil.

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But Alonso's honeymoon period came to a jarring halt with a 4-0 thrashing by Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup semi-finals, leaving him scrambling to fix tactical blunders while figuring out how to stop Barcelona's attacking juggernaut ahead of their Spanish La Liga opener at home to Osasuna on Aug 19.

The new coach had enjoyed a promising start to his tenure, taking his team unbeaten to the last four of the FIFA tournament despite missing ill striker Kylian Mbappé for most of the tournament.

But the Spaniard's decision to abandon the five-man defense that had served Real so well until that point in the tournament proved disastrous against PSG's lethal transitions.