Real Madrid had likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria on the flanks with Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain alternating upfront, but Xabi Alonso has pinpointed Mesut Ozil to be the man behind Real’s extraordinary season.
Jose Mourinho led Real Madrid to 100 point finish, with Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona nine points behind, though what was the icing on an extraordinary season was 121 goals they netted in the process.
The Spaniard was seen as a critical aspect of Jose Mourinho’s midfield during their collab at Santiago Bernabeau, though Xabi feels Mesut made the sides tick.
Xabi Alonso speaking with The Coaches’ Voice: “Under Jose we used to play with two midfielders, myself and Sami Khedira. Sami has a lot of energy, he will make a lot of runs.
“And Mesut between the lines, he was the perfect player because he wanted to be in the hole and that’s the toughest position to play.
“There’s no space, all the defence tries to squeeze, but I always tried to look for him to find a pass because with the touch he had, the controls he used to do.
“With a good control he was attacking the last line and we had a very good connection with Cristiano
“He used to play on the left, Di Maria on the right, and Cristiano made everything very easy.
“I’d find him and he used to do his own individual thing.
“In Madrid our style was very quick transitions, not that much elaboration, it was more attacking with quick actions.
“We scored so many goals, they came from nothing almost.”
