The Basque midfielder played for Real Madrid between 2009 and 2014. During this period Madrid spent 10 matches against Barcelona, ??having suffered 6 defeats and having won only 2 wins.

According to Xabi Alonso, the chances of success in the matches with the Catalans at Real appeared only when it was possible to neutralize the leader of the "blue-garnet" Lionel Messi, in which he personally took part.

"Messi has brought a lot of problems. I, Jose Mourinho and Sergio Ramos discussed his game a lot, "said Alonso.

"We began to control Messi only when I personally played with him and covered him. For this we sacrificed my usual position on the field, but as soon as we managed to cover Messi, we immediately leveled the game ".

"The famous defeat with a score of 0: 5 made us review many things," summed up Xabi.

Previously, Alonso said that PSG is a suitable contender for Real Madrid.