Fulham's Arbeloa to Face Former Teammate Alonso in Premier League

Fulham's Alvaro Arbeloa will face his former teammate Xabi Alonso in the Premier League as Chelsea host Fulham.

Fulham's Alvaro Arbeloa will face his former teammate Xabi Alonso in the Premier League as Chelsea host Fulham on Monday. Almost 20 years after Rafa Benitez brought them together at Liverpool, the pair will go head-to-head as Arbeloa's Fulham host Alonso's Chelsea.

Benitez was asked whether he had expected his then-players Alonso and Arbeloa to become managers, and his response was brutally honest. "Alonso, yes. Arbeloa, not really," he said. "For me, Arbeloa was a surprise." Arbeloa was promoted from Real Madrid B to replace Alonso when he was sacked by the Spanish giants in January last season.

Why it matters for Fulham

The pair won the 2010 World Cup and two European Championships with Spain, along with domestic league and cup triumphs when they both joined Real Madrid after Liverpool. They played together for seven years at club level and shared the pitch 262 times for club and country, and their careers have remained closely intertwined since.

Benitez explained that Alonso has experience of "coaching at a different level in a different country", having had success in the Bundesliga at Bayer Leverkusen by winning a league and cup double in 2024. Alonso, in particular, had "vision" on the pitch, says Benitez, while his experiences playing at Liverpool, Real Madrid and then under Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich would have "opened his mind" to a range of coaching approaches.

Benitez recalls a moment of magic from Alonso in a 2009 game that displayed his football intelligence. In a match against Sam Allardyce's Blackburn at Anfield, Alonso ignored an instruction to deliver a free-kick to the far post. Instead, his ball to the near post allowed Fernando Torres to head in his second goal of the match as Liverpool went on to win 4-0. "He was someone who was always thinking," said Benitez.

Fulham's recent form

Fulham are currently 11th in the Premier League, with 52 points from 38 games, and have a recent form of 2W-2D-1L (WWDDL). They are 33 points behind leaders Arsenal and have scored 47 goals this season, conceding 51.

Benitez has been without a job since being sacked by Panathinaikos in May, but remains a Uefa technical observer and speaks about adapting to the modern game, using social media, artificial intelligence and increasingly sophisticated data as part of his approach. "I had some offers," Benitez said, having recently been linked with the Scotland job. "Maybe it is a national team, as a lot of teams will change after the World Cup, but there has to be something where you feel you can achieve something, whether that is promotion, like we had at Newcastle, with amazing fans. I know football now is more demanding. You have to be patient because, if not, if you change with the pressure of social media and change every seven months, then you don't have any project. That is the difficult thing."