Former team-mates at Real Madrid, Nuri Şahin and Xabi Alonso go head-to-head for the first time as coaches on Friday.

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Nuri Şahin and Xabi Alonso: From Real Madrid team-mates to coaching rivals

06.01.2025

Borussia Dortmund against Bayer Leverkusen on Matchday 16 not only promises a rip-roaring return to Bundesliga action following the winter break, it also pits former colleagues Nuri Şahin and Xabi Alonso against each other for the first time as coaches.

The match itself would be reason enough to tune in. Dortmund are unbeaten at home in the Bundesliga this season ahead of taking on the reigning champions, on a five-game winning run in the league.

But the maiden meeting between the two head coaches offers an equally intriguing prospect. Şahin and Alonso previously crossed paths in 2011/12 when they had a season together at Real Madrid in 2011/12.

Watch: Xabi Alonso's top 5 Bundesliga goals!

“He does lots of things well," Alonso, 30 at the time, said of a 23-year-old Şahin in October 2011, just weeks after he had joined José Mourinho's side.

"He's got a good left foot, he sees the game quickly and he links up well. He also has a good attitude, you can see that he wants to integrate and that he wants to succeed. I have high hopes because he looks very good.”

Alonso had already been at the club for two years by that point. His partnership with Şahin
should have been a match made in heaven: two ball-playing central midfielders at the top of their game to rival Pep Guardiola’s tiki taka and his Barcelona midfield of Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Andrés Iniesta. However, fate had other ideas.

Watch: From the archive - The Nuri Sahin Story

Injury prevented Şahin from making his bow until November, and he subsequently could not break into what had become a settled side. He would make only nine more appearances for the club before joining Liverpool in 2012 on loan, never to return to the Santiago Bernabéu.

The ever-influential Alonso also had a role in Şahin's switch to Merseyside: “I've spoken to Xabi many times, I think he is still in love with the club," said the now Dortmund coach. "He told me: 'Go there, you will love it'."

Şahin was only at Anfield for five months before returning to Dortmund. And while the pair's early playing careers had shown remarkable similarities, they went in different directions towards the end.

Alonso had started out at Real Sociedad in 1999 but wasn’t until the following season that he became a more regular fixture in the first team. It was then, aged 18, that he was named captain by then head coach John Toshack.

Watch: Alonso's historic season at Leverkusen

Şahin was just 16 when he made his debut for Dortmund in 2005, becoming the youngest player in Bundesliga history, a record he would hold until Youssoufa Moukoko surpassed him 15 years later. He was also a key part of Jürgen Klopp's swashbuckling BVB side that lifted the Bundesliga title in 2010/11.

Just two years later, following his time in Madrid and Liverpool, Şahin was back in Dortmund. However, he would be plagued by injuries and although he did win the DFB Cup in 2017 under Thomas Tuchel, he never reached the same heights. Stints with Werder Bremen and Antalyaspor, where he retired in 2021 before becoming head coach, brought an end to his time on the field.

Alonso, meanwhile, enjoyed more success in Madrid, winning the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Euro 2012. He left in 2014 for Bayern Munich, adding three Bundesliga titles and a DFB Cup to his trophy cabinet under the tutelage of Guardiola.

Watch: Highlights of the previous meeting between Dortmund and Leverkusen

The two are both relatively inexperienced in coaching, but again, Alonso has the edge. After leading Real Socieded B to the second tier, he took over at Leverkusen in 2022. He has suffered just 15 defeats in 115 games, winning Bayer’s first-ever Bundesliga title without losing a match.

The 43-year-old also clinched the DFB Cup in an incredible double, while only a loss to Atalanta in the UEFA Europa League final prevented him from completing an unprecedented unbeaten campaign across all competitions.

Şahin, meanwhile, led Antalyaspor away from relegation in the Turkish Super Lig in 2021 prior to joining Edin Terzić’s backroom staff in Dortmund at the end of 2023. Terzić’s exit last summer allowed the 36-year-old to step into the breach, and he currently has the Black-Yellows within touching distance of Leverkusen in the Bundesliga table and on course to reach the Champions League knockout rounds.

Having both been successful young players, can Şahin follow his former teammate into becoming a successful young coach? Friday's Matchday 16 encounter might offer some clues...