Now his grace period is over: In the Clásico against Barcelona, ​​the new Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso is put to the test

In the age of video phones, little remains secret, and experts now know that footballer Jude Bellingham doesn't take traffic rules too seriously. Apparently annoyed by three autograph hunters, the Englishman ignored a red light on his way home on Thursday night. The result was honking and a near-accident.

Any average citizen would have a serious problem right now. But Bellingham, as we all know, is no ordinary person; he's a star of world football and the galactico in Real Madrid's midfield. Before he climbed into his black SUV that night, he had scored the 1-0 winning goal in the Champions League against Juventus Turin with an instinctive, sure-footed move.

For Bellingham, who is trying to find his form and the right position after an injury , the success came at a good time. And for his team, too: Sunday's Clásico against FC Barcelona is coming up, and they'll need confidence. Last season, the Real Madrid team lost all four meetings in the league, cup, and Supercup, conceding a goal difference of 7 to 16.

The disastrous season led to the dismissal of coach Carlo Ancelotti and the appointment of former Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso as his successor. He is expected to undertake fundamental reforms within the team. However, the Basque has yet to fully fulfill those hopes.

While the results have mostly been good, with the capital club entering the Clásico two points ahead of Barcelona, ​​Real's performances so far have hardly been confident or even exuberant, requiring a fair amount of referee luck and, on occasion, brilliant saves from goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. "The promised improvement is sluggish, at times barely noticeable," is the interim assessment of the club-affiliated sports newspaper "As."

Alonso himself is asking for patience: "We're in the development phase," is his mantra. After taking over for the Club World Cup and with correspondingly little lead time to rehearse his own systems, he has been granted this time so far. But on Sunday against his fiercest rival, the grace period expires, after the match against his second fiercest rival went spectacularly wrong.

In the derby at Atlético last month, they lost 5-2. Real Madrid hadn't conceded that many goals against their neighbors in a competitive match in 75 years. It was all too reminiscent of Ancelotti's final year, when Real Madrid lacked a compass after the retirement of playmaker Toni Kroos, and their problems against top-class opponents became apparent with merciless regularity.

New coach Alonso had aptly analyzed Real's structural problems beforehand and wanted to sign Martín Zubimendi from Real Sociedad to set the pace. However, his fellow Basque preferred a move to Arsenal in England, so the coach has to work with the midfield personnel he found in his squad.

However, the dynamic Bellingham lacks the overview and positional discipline required for the playmaker profile, the strong tackling Frenchman Aurélien Tchouaméni lacks the ball agility and rhythm, while Luka Modric, at 40, was traded to Milan .

The young Turkish player most likely to bring strategic qualities is Arda Güler, whom Alonso has increasingly placed in the center of the pitch despite his more attacking nature. Indeed, the highly talented Güler, alongside Courtois, the in-form Kylian Mbappé, and the resolute center-back Éder Militão, has been the Alonso era's top performer so far—while also personifying the old shortcoming. Against Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup semifinal (4-0) and Atlético, he too was overwhelmed with the organization of the match.

When will it be enough for another win against a truly great opponent? That's the question on the minds of the fans at the magnificently renovated Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. Even with the arena itself, things aren't going according to plan. During the week, Real Madrid suffered yet another defeat in court against the residents: the parking garages beneath the stadium, planned by the club and approved by the city, are not allowed to be built. Neighbors had already blocked the use of the Bernabéu for concerts, citing noise pollution. Real Madrid loses tens of millions of euros annually due to these missed opportunities.

Nevertheless, the situation is certainly far more comfortable than at FC Barcelona, ​​with its billions in debt and the Camp Nou rebuild still in its early stages . While the Catalans were only able to invest €27.5 million in new signings this summer and have already announced no plans for the upcoming winter transfer window, Real Madrid spent nearly €170 million on defenders like Dean Huijsen and Álvaro Carreras and attackers like Franco Mastantuono.

The Madrid club is the only football club in the world with a turnover of over one billion euros and has its stadium loans under control. They should be able to dominate their cash-strapped, and currently under-replacement, arch-rivals – instead of constantly losing to them. Breaking this trend on Sunday falls to coach Xabi Alonso.