By OkayGoal 
The kick-off whistle for the 2025/26 LaLiga campaign is fast approaching, and in the dugouts – where coaches will be nervously barking out orders under the weight of expectation – some fresh faces are ready to make their mark.
Seven new head coaches enter the fray this season. The summer’s managerial merry-go-round has claimed four casualties, while the three newly promoted clubs arrive with fresh faces in the dugout, all eager to hit the ground running.
Let’s take a look at each of them from top to bottom.
Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid)
Alonso took his place in the Real Madrid hotseat in place of his mentor, Carlo Ancelotti, at the end of May and swiftly headed to the U.S. for the Club World Cup with his new side.
After a decorated playing career, which saw the former Liverpool midfielder play under Ancelotti for Los Blancos and in Germany at Bayern Munich, Alonso took his first steps in coaching with Real Madrid under-14s and Real Sociedad B.
The Basque coach then led Bayer Leverkusen to their first-ever Bundesliga title, bringing an end to Bayern Munich’s 11-year reign over German football. Bayer narrowly missed out in the Europa League final, but they also clinched the DFB-Pokal trophy to cap a remarkable second season for the Spaniard.
Alonso was coached by some of the game’s greatest minds – Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho, Rafael Benitez, and Vicente del Bosque – giving him a wealth of tactical influence to draw upon. He tends to favour a 3-4-3 and a 3-4-2-1 formation, deploying his wing-backs high up the pitch and creating an overload in the centre of midfield, which gives his players the freedom to rotate positions.
Los Blancos failed to win a major trophy last term and Florentino Perez, the club president, will probably be expecting Alonso to guide the team to success in either LaLiga, the Champions League or the Copa del Rey in his debut campaign. Perez would have been hoping his new coach could bring home his first piece of silverware in the form of the Club World Cup, but a humiliating 4-0 semi-final defeat to PSG brought the Whites’ tournament run to a bitter end and this has only increased the scrutiny on what is widely regarded as the most demanding job in world football.
Sergio Francisco (Real Sociedad)
Sergio Francisco Ramos, from the Basque town of Irun, took charge of Real Sociedad’s first team on July 1st after many successful years with the club’s youth teams.
As a player, Francisco plied his trade in the ranks of the Real Sociedad youth system and, after one season in San Sebastian, the forward signed for Eibar in the Segunda Division B (Spain’s former third tier before a restructuring took place). He spent the rest of his playing days with different Segunda B clubs before hanging up his boots and taking his first steps as a coach at Real Union, in his home town.
Francisco spent five years at Real Sociedad C, then three with Real Sociedad B and was seen as a natural successor to Imanol Alguacil, who stepped down after seven years in charge. Imanol, who guided La Real to Copa del Rey glory and cemented his place as a club legend, had also previously excelled in the club’s youth ranks, so this may ease concerns about the new coach’s lack of Primera Division experience.
Sergio Francisco was highly regarded by the club early in his career, as evidenced by the trust placed in him, first to succeed Xabi Alonso on the Sanse (Real Sociedad B) bench and now in place of Imanol at senior level.
Stepping into his predecessor’s shoes clearly will not be an easy task. However, last season’s 11th-place finish, poor by Imanol’s standards, means that the new coach will have more time on the training ground with no European football at the Reale Arena this term.
He will certainly need to improve La Real’s attacking output, with last season’s side managing just 35 goals in the league. His task has been further complicated by the departure of pivotal midfielder Martin Zubimendi.
Francisco’s upward trajectory and deep knowledge of the club’s youth ranks will also stand him in good stead. The local coach will be looking to restore Real Sociedad’s trademark style, giving opportunities to academy players he knows well, with his main objective being to guide the team back into European competition.
Alessio Lisci (Osasuna)
39-year-old Italian, Alessio Lisci, was named the new Osasuna head coach at the end of June, following a historic 2024/25 campaign with Mirandes, who he guided to the promotion play-off final, narrowly missing out on a place in LaLiga.
Lisci began his coaching career in the youth system at Lazio before moving to Spain with the Levante youth teams. As assistant coach, he helped Atletico Levante, the club’s reserve side, clinch promotion to Segunda Division B, and he took over as head coach the following season after Luis Garcia Tevenet was dismissed.
Following Levante’s poor start to the 2021/22 LaLiga campaign under Javier Pereira Megia, Lisci was thrust into the first-team role for his debut in Spain’s top flight. However, he was unable to save Los Azulgranas from relegation, and the club parted ways with him at the end of the season.
The Italian earned his next opportunity with Mirandes, keeping the modest Burgos club in the Segunda in his first season before leading them to a remarkable fourth-place finish – the greatest season in the club’s history –, only to lose to Real Oviedo in the play-off final.
Lisci replaces Vicente Moreno on the Osasuna bench, but he will have his work cut out to improve on the team’s ninth-place finish last year. However, his ability to make tactical adjustments during games was one of the secrets behind Mirandes’s success, and the Italian has been touted as one of the most promising coaches in the game.
Matias Almeyda (Sevilla)
Matias Almeyda became the eighth head coach in the Sevilla dugout in the last three years. The Argentine takes on a role previously held by Julen Lopetegui, Jorge Sampaoli, Jose Luis Mendilibar, Diego Alonso, Quique Sanchez Flores, Garcia Pimienta and Joaquin Caparros – all within this period.
The former River Plate midfielder spent one season at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium (1996-97) as a player, and he was hired in June following a caretaker spell by Caparros for the final month of a highly disappointing 2024/25 campaign after the dismissal of Garcia Pimienta.
Almeyda came to the Andalusian city after spending three years at AEK Athens, where he guided the team to the Greek Super League and Greek Football Cup in 2023. The well-travelled coach had previous stints in charge of the San Jose Earthquakes, Mexican outfit Club Deportivo Guadalajara, as well as River Plate and Banfield in Argentina, leading both clubs to promotion to the Argentine Primera Division.
Ironically nicknamed El Pelado (“the bald one”) despite his signature long hair, the Argentine coach is unwavering in his commitment to a clear playing identity. His teams build up play from the back, looking for spaces to launch fast, direct attacks using wide-open wingers and constant movement.
Almeyda has no Spanish Primera Division experience in the dugout, which adds an element of risk to this appointment. However, any improvement on last season’s dreadful 17th-place finish, which saw the team narrowly avoid relegation to Segunda, would be considered a step forward for Los Nervionenses.
Julian Calero (Levante)
Julian Calero clinched the Segunda Division title with Levante to guide the club back to Primera after a three-year absence in his first season in charge.
As a midfielder, Calero spent his playing days in the former Segunda B and Tercera Division, while combining his time on the pitch with his job with the municipal police.
The Madrileño served as assistant coach to Julen Lopetegui at FC Porto and also to Fernando Hierro, both at Real Oviedo and the Spain national team during the 2018 World Cup in Russia, before starting out as head coach in the second and third tiers of Spanish football – at Rayo Majadahonda, Burgos and Cartagena.
Calero’s teams usually play in a low, compact defensive block and apply positional pressure mainly from midfield, while typically conceding very few goals and producing fast offensive transitions to create danger. Calero favours a 4-4-2 formation but may well opt for a 5-4-1 or 4-1-4-1 against teams that dominate possession in Primera.
Though this will be 54-year-old Calero’s first taste of the Primera Division in the dugout, last year’s impressive title-winning campaign and the fact that he has been with his players for over a year mean Los Granotas could hit the ground running in the 2025/26 season.
Eder Sarabia (Elche)
Basque coach Eder Sarabia led Elche back to the Primera at the first time of asking with a second-place league finish – two years after Los Franjiverdes were relegated from the division – courtesy of a thumping 4-0 away win against Deportivo La Coruña at the Riazor on the final matchday.
Although Sarabia will be making his Primera managerial bow in the dugout at the Estadio Martinez Valero, he did serve as assistant coach to Quique Setien at both Real Betis and Barcelona in the top flight.
Gerard Pique gave Sarabia his first opportunity as the first-team coach of FC Andorra, where the former Barca defender is the majority shareholder. The Bilbao-born boss did not disappoint, as his Andorra side climbed from the old Segunda B to the Segunda, but he was eventually dismissed in March 2024 following a poor run of results.
Sarabia likes his side to build up play from the back and control possession, while deploying a high press to win the ball back in the opposition’s half. Elche were also the team that conceded the fewest goals (34) in the 2024/25 LaLiga Hypermotion, and this will provide a solid foundation for the Alicante outfit’s Primera Division assault.
Veljko Paunovic (Real Oviedo)
Veljko Paunovic was thrust into the Real Oviedo dugout, following the sacking of Javi Calleja, on matchday 33 of last season’s Segunda Division. Since taking charge, the Serbian coach’s side suffered just one defeat and clinched promotion to Primera, after a 24-year absence, through the play-offs.
Paunovic will be embarking on his 12th season in the dugout. He started out at MLS side Chicago Fire before spending a couple of years at English Championship side Reading. He was then off to Mexico, where he took charge of Guadalajara and Tigres UANL. This will be the Serbian’s first managerial role in LaLiga.
However, during his playing days, Paunovic – a fluent Spanish speaker – spent over ten years in Spain at Atletico Madrid, Mallorca, Tenerife, Marbella and Oviedo, spending one season at the Estadio Carlos Tartiere in Asturias.
Having experienced relegation to the Segunda with Oviedo 24 years ago, Paunovic returned with a flexible tactical approach – adapting to each match and adjusting his strategy to suit the opposition – a formula that ultimately led Los Oviedistas back to the promised land.
Now we wait to see who will rise to glory, and who will still be standing in the dugout when the 2025/26 season draws to a close.