“I’d bring Xabi Alonso back,” says Real Madrid legend Casillas

“I would re-sign Xabi Alonso.”

Halfway between surreal and brilliant, Iker Casillas dropped the line casually at Espai Movistar in Plaza Catalunya, where the telecom company presented its El Clasico broadcast setup, featuring 35 cameras.

The remark caught everyone off guard. Reporters had come expecting headlines about Jose Mourinho, but instead left with Casillas reflecting on Alonso.

“For me, he was the perfect coach,” he added.

When asked about a potential Mourinho return, Casillas stayed distant.

“You ask me about him and honestly, it doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “I had a difficult time with him, but that’s in the past.”

Casillas and Puyol on dressing room pressure

Casillas sat alongside Carles Puyol, both serving as LaLiga ambassadors for the Movistar event ahead of a Clásico overshadowed by recent unrest in the Real Madrid locker room.

Both tried to normalize the situation.

“You can say I’ve had big arguments, even with very close friends,” Puyol said. “In a locker room, everything happens, and of course I experienced the same at Barcelona.”

Casillas offered perspective on what he described as a two-year period of instability at Real Madrid.

“Everything is cyclical,” he said. “Right now things are not going our way, but we are all soccer players, we want to win, and sometimes you go through these difficult moments.”

He added that adversity can have value.

“Sometimes it’s good to go through situations like this so you appreciate things more when they are going well,” he said. “But Real Madrid is the greatest club in history, FIFA says so, and that means being under constant scrutiny. Madrid will bounce back. Everything has a solution.”

Puyol on ego and rebuilding winning teams

Puyol reflected on his own Barcelona experience, including the post-2006 Champions League cycle when the squad struggled to maintain momentum.

“Winning after winning is always complicated,” he said. “Egos can take over, and in a locker room everyone has to understand that the team comes before the individual. If you don’t manage that, problems appear.”

A Clasico title race and mutual respect

Looking ahead to a potential title-deciding Clásico, Puyol urged calm.

“What Barcelona players have to do is stay focused and not let all this noise distract them,” he said. “And think about winning to celebrate the league.”

Casillas focused on pride and professionalism.

“If Barcelona win, Madrid will congratulate them,” he said. “But if I were a Real Madrid player, my goal would be at least to make sure they don’t celebrate the title against us.”

Both men agreed on one thing during the Movistar event, hosted by Noemi de Miguel: they miss being on the pitch.

“I feel healthy envy,” Puyol said. “I’d love to be out there and have the chance to celebrate on the field. I’ll have to support from a different place now.”

He also recalled memories from Spain’s 2010 World Cup triumph alongside Casillas, a reminder that time moves on for even the greatest players.

And for Casillas, that includes believing in second chances. He would give one to Xabi Alonso.

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