Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich legend Xabi Alonso celebrates his 35th birthday today.
The Spaniard, who started his career with Real Sociedad, is still going strong having won the treble under Pep Guardiola last season and remains a key figure in Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
Alonso has won almost everything the game has to offer, having celebrated two Champions League triumphs, La Liga and Bundesliga titles as well as two European Championships and a World Cup with the national side.
Despite being predominantly a defensive midfielder or deep-lying playmaker, Alonso has a pretty decent goalscoring record with 43 goals in his club career as well as another 16 for Spain.
What stands out is the quality of those goals as well – the Spaniard doesn’t really do tap-in, instead using his superb technique and power to burst the net with a range of volleys and long-range strikes.
Here are FIVE of his best.
REAL MADRID VS REAL ZARAGOZA, 2011
Xabi Alonso won the first league title of his career with Real Madrid in the 2011/12 season.
The Spaniard played a much more defensive role under Jose Mourinho than he had previously and only managed one goal in the league (1:29 in the video above).
That goal came in one of Madrid’s performances of the season against Real Zaragoza, however, as the ball broke to the edge of the box before Alonso drilled home from 30-yards to add the third goal in a 6-0 away victory.
LIVERPOOL VS ARSENAL, 2004
Liverpool’s opener against Arsenal was more the sum of its parts as it came as the result of a wonderful passing move.
Harry Kewell cushioned a long, cross-field ball to Steven Gerrard, who flicked a delicate pass into the pass of the onrushing Alonso.
From the edge of the box, Alonso unleashed a beautiful, flighted drive into the top scorer past a helpless ‘keeper.
While Alonso’s finish was top drawer, it was the fluid team move that really made this goal stand out.
BAYERN MUNICH VS WERDER BREMEN, 2016
Xabi Alonso proved that age hasn’t made him any worse a player as he is still a first-team regular for Bayern Munich.
The Spaniard has appeared in ten games out of a possible eleven and bagged two goals in his first four games.
The pick of the two was a powerful volley after controlling a bouncing ball on the edge of the box to score the first goal in a 6-0 demolition of Werder Bremen.
LIVERPOOL VS LUTON TOWN, 2006
When Liverpool fans reminisce about Xabi Alonso, they generally remember one game.
Liverpool travelled to Luton Town – who were in the Championship at that point – and were shocked at the home side took a 3-1 lead.
Alonso inspired a fightback however and fired a beautifully dipping volley from 35-yards to level the score.
Incredibly that wasn’t even his best goal of the game as, with the score at 4-3 the Luton goalkeeper came up to try and score an equaliser. Liverpool broke from the corner and Alonso found the empty net from 70-yards on his weaker foot to secure the game.
LIVERPOOL VS NEWCASTLE UNITED, 2006
Alonso had a bit of a thing for scoring from his own half in 2006 and his goal against Newcastle United arguably beats his effort against Luton.
The Spaniard showed all the best parts of his game, winning the ball in the middle of the park and using his superb vision to spot Steve Harper off his line.
He then unleashed an unstoppable 60-yard drive which saw Harper back-pedalling and he eventually tripped over in an unsuccessful attempt to save Alonso’s shot.
