Real Madrid C. F. and David Alaba have agreed that his time as a player at the club will end at the conclusion of the current season, the club announced Friday, and Alaba will leave when his contract expires on June 30.
The Santiago Bernabéu stadium will pay tribute to Alaba on Saturday on the occasion of Real Madrid's final league match at home against Athletic Club, with the club confirming a farewell ceremony before the game.
Alaba, 33, departs after five seasons in a Real Madrid shirt. He played 131 matches and collected 11 titles with the club: two European Cups, two Club World Cups, two European Super Cups, two La Liga titles, one Copa del Rey and two Spanish Super Cups. He arrived from Bayern Munich in 2021 as a free agent.
Club president Florentino Pérez praised Alaba’s contribution, saying the defender has earned the affection of Madrid fans for his dedication and hard work and that Real Madrid will always be his home; Pérez also singled out an iconic image tied to the club’s run to its 14th European Cup as part of Alaba’s legacy.
The decision to bring Alaba’s spell at the club to an end comes after a period in which injuries limited his role. Alaba suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear in December 2023 that kept him out of action for 13 months; he returned in January 2025 but then suffered a meniscus tear in April 2025, which cost him the final stages of the domestic season and the Club World Cup. Over the last 18 months he made 17 La Liga appearances with just four starts, and he has not started a match since the start of March.
The farewell announcement arrives alongside confirmation that Dani Carvajal will also leave next month, a parallel end to two long Real Madrid careers that the club will mark as the season closes.
The friction in Alaba’s departure is plain: his résumé at the club is heavy with trophies and a memorable image from the run to the 14th European Cup, yet his final years in Madrid were repeatedly interrupted by serious injuries and limited playing time. The ceremony at the Bernabéu on Saturday will be both recognition of a decorated five-year spell and a public end to a chapter that finished under the shadow of fitness setbacks.
For Alaba, the exit is final in legal terms on June 30, but the farewell at the Santiago Bernabéu will shape how supporters remember his Real Madrid career: 131 appearances across five seasons, 11 trophies and an iconic celebration that the club says is now part of its history. The Bernabéu will offer the last, formal goodbye on Saturday before the final match of the league campaign.
