After Bayer Leverkusen’s ecstatic celebrations died down a bit, the hero who masterminded it all found time for family.
Xabi Alonso posted a snapshot on Instagram with his wife Nagore and their three children Jontxu, Ane and Emma, all smiling in the Leverkusen dressing room.
“My team,” he captioned it, with a heart emoji.
It was the Spanish manager’s way of showing his appreciation for his family’s sacrifices during a historic, but seriously intense season for the German club.
On Sunday, a 5-0 home win over Werder Bremen secured Leverkusen’s first-ever Bundesliga title and added the German Cup and the UEFA Europa League.
Xabi Alonso poses with wife Nagore and their three children Jontxu, Ane and Emma after Bayer Leverkusen won a historic Bundesliga title last weekend
Wife Nagore Aranburu was a teenage sweetheart and the couple got married in 2009
Alonso pictured with Juan Mata at the launch of an IWC Schaffhausen watch in Geneva in 2016
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What is truly extraordinary is that Alonso’s team has not suffered a defeat yet this season.
His talented and glamorous wife Nagore has worked as a model, actress and fashion designer.
The couple were teenage sweethearts who met when Alonso was playing for boys’ club Real Sociedad in his native Basque Country.
They married in 2009, just as Alonso moved from Liverpool to Real Madrid. During his time on Merseyside, Nagore worked as a hotel receptionist, which led to a hilarious story involving teammate Peter Crouch.
“When I signed for Liverpool I stayed at the Hope Street Hotel,” Crouch wrote in his 2018 autobiography.
‘At the reception there was a girl who looked so pretty that I couldn’t believe she was smiling at me the whole time.
‘I told the boys in training. “Honestly, she’s beautiful. I think I have something to hear here.’ Jamie Carragher called a few other senior players over. “Tell them again, Crouchie.” So I did.
‘She’s all over me. I’m on fire.’ Carra again, everyone is interested. “How does she look like?” ‘Awesome. Dark-haired. Spanish looking. I’m in there.’
‘It turned out she was Xabi Alonso’s partner. She was doing some work to practice her language skills. He was nice about it. So was she. Carra less…’
Alonso’s love for vintage cars is known because the Spaniard collaborates with Porsche Design
Peter Crouch mistook Nagore’s politeness for affection when he encountered her as a receptionist at the Hope Street Hotel while playing for Liverpool.
Nagore has followed Xabi’s football career across Europe, both as a player and as a coach
The last stop is Leverkusen, where Alonso has already written his name in history
Nagore and their three children have followed Xabi’s career from San Sebastián to Liverpool, Madrid, Munich and then back to the Basque Country when he started his coaching career at Sociedad.
Leverkusen then proved to be the perfect next step, with Alonso rejecting links with Liverpool and Bayern to stay at the club and coach them in next season’s Champions League.
He first learned English while visiting Kells in County Meath, Ireland, when he was 16.
“I was staying with the O’Brien family and I remember there were the parents, and two boys and two girls,” Alonso later recalled.
‘It was very different going to Ireland from Northern Spain, for example because of the weather. The culture is completely different, but it was fun to spend a month there.’
Alonso played football during his visit, but also tried Gaelic football at Kells Celtic. ‘I played with some boys from the neighborhood. It was very fast, very tough. Maybe they should wear crash helmets,” he recalled.
During a school exchange visit to Ireland at the age of 16, Alonso watched a Meath Gaelic Football match and remains a fan of the team
Alonso behind the wheel of a classic Porsche during a photo shoot – he was nicknamed James Bond by the media in Spain
Alonso plays air guitar during Bayern Munich’s Christmas Circus Gala in 2015
However, Alonso did go to a Meath GAA match and apparently loved the experience, whilst remaining a fan of the team.
As a teenager, Alonso enrolled for an engineering degree in San Sebastián and thought about becoming an economist before getting his big break in Sociedad’s first team.
Alonso is known for his stylish play in midfield, which is still evident on Leverkusen’s training pitches.
He was even nicknamed ‘James Bond’ in the Spanish media after Alonso got behind the wheel of several vintage cars in a collaboration with Adidas and Porsche Design.
Alonso, 42, owns a Mercedes 190 SL convertible worth £165,000, although as a player he preferred a less flashy Audi.
But he doesn’t mind splurging on fine watches, with his collection including timepieces from Rolex, Patek Philippe, Franck Muller, Audemars Piguet and Panerai.
His most treasured item is an IWC engineer – worth around £10,500 – which was a gift from Nagore on their wedding day.
“It represents the fact that I found a woman who thought about me, what I like and my personality,” he told the Journal.
‘I don’t wear it much, only on very special occasions.
Xabi and his wife on board a boat during one of their non-football vacations
Cycling was one way Alonso stayed fit and active as a Bayern Munich player
The football coach tries to surf an Instagram photo
‘For me, every special moment is linked to a particular watch, and every time I put it on I am taken back to that moment, like when we won the Champions League with Liverpool. [in 2005] or the World Cup with Spain [2010]’.
But a nice watch will be his only accessory. ‘Tattoos are not for me. I just can’t imagine myself with piercings, chains or anything else,” he told the Suddeutsche Zeitung in 2016. “I’m clearly hopelessly old-fashioned.”
However, Instagram photos of Alonso skiing and surfing suggest a livelier side to his personality.
Right now, after Leverkusen finally ended one of the longest spells in sport, there is no better asset in football.