Inside Xabi Alonso’s life off the field: Peter Crouch, a model wife, once loved vintage cars and watches which earned him the nickname “James Bond” and his unexpected interest in Gaelic football.

After Bayer Leverkusen’s ecstatic celebrations calmed down a bit, the hero who organized it all found time for his family.

Xabi Alonso posted an Instagram photo 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 coach’s way of showing his appreciation for his family’s sacrifices during what has been a historic – but very intense – season for the German club.

A 5-0 home win over Werder Bremen on Sunday gave Leverkusen their first ever Bundesliga title and could still add the German Cup and UEFA Europa League.

Wife Nagore Aranburu was a teenage sweetheart and the couple married in 2009.

Alonso pictured with Juan Mata at the launch of an IWC Schaffhausen watch in Geneva in 2016

What is truly extraordinary is that Alonso’s team has yet to suffer a defeat this season.

His talented and glamorous wife, Nagore, has worked as a model, actress and fashion designer.

The pair were teenage sweethearts who met while Alonso was playing for boyhood club Real Sociedad in his native Basque region.

They married in 2009, just as Alonso left Liverpool for Real Madrid. During his time on Merseyside, Nagore worked as a hotel receptionist, which led to a hilarious story involving teammate Peter Crouch.

“On signing for Liverpool I stayed at the Hope Street Hotel,” Crouch wrote in his 2018 autobiography.

“At the reception there was a girl so beautiful that I couldn’t believe she was smiling at me all the time.

“I told the guys in training. “Honestly, she’s gorgeous. I think I’m having a cry here.” Jamie Carragher called up a few other senior players. “Tell them again, Crouchie.” So I did it.

“She’s all over me. I’m on fire.’ Carra again, all interest. “What is she like?” “Amazing. Dark haired. Spanish looking. I’m in there.”

“It turned out she was Xabi Alonso’s partner. She was doing a bit of work to practice her language skills. He was nice about it. So was she. Carra less…’

Alonso’s love for classic cars is well known as the Spaniard partners with Porsche Design

Peter Crouch mistook Nagore’s politeness for affection when he met her working as a receptionist at the Hope Street Hotel while he was playing for Liverpool.

Nagore followed Xabi’s football career across Europe as a player and coach.

The final stop is Leverkusen, where Alonso has already written his name in history

Nagore and their three children followed Xabi’s career from San Sebastian to Liverpool, Madrid, Munich and then back to the Basque Country when he began his coaching career at Sociedad.

Leverkusen then proved to be the perfect next step, with Alonso rejecting links to Liverpool and Bayern to stay with the club and coach them into next season’s Champions League.

He first learned English during a visit to Kells in County Meath, Ireland, at the age of 16.

“I stayed 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 the north of Spain, because of the weather for example. The culture is totally different but it was nice to spend a month there.

Alonso played football during his visit, but also tried Gaelic football at Kells Celtic. “I played with some local boys. It was very fast, very hard. Maybe they should wear protective helmets,” he recalls.

During a school exchange in Ireland at the age of 16, Alonso watched a Meath Gaelic Football match and remains a fan of the team.

Alonso driving a classic Porsche during a photoshoot – he was nicknamed James Bond by the Spanish media

Alonso plays air guitar at Bayern Munich’s Christmas Circus Gala in 2015

Alonso did, however, go to a Meath GAA match and apparently loved the experience, remaining a fan of the team.

As a teenager, Alonso enrolled in an engineering degree in San Sebastian and considered becoming an economist before breaking into Sociedad’s first team.

Renowned for his midfield style of play – always visible on Leverkusen’s training grounds – Alonso is equally suave.

He even earned the nickname “James Bond” in the Spanish media after a partnership with Adidas and Porsche Design allowed Alonso to get behind the wheel of various vintage cars.

Alonso, 42, owns a Mercedes 190 SL convertible worth up to £165,000, but as a player he preferred a less visible Audi.

But he doesn’t mind spending on fine watches, with his collection including timepieces from Rolex, Patek Philippe, Franck Muller, Audemars Piguet and Panerai.

Her most prized item is an IWC Ingenieur – 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 and what I like and my personality,” he told the Journal.

“I don’t wear it much, just on very special occasions.

Xabi and his wife on board a boat during one of their holidays away from football

Cycling was a way Alonso stayed fit and active while playing for Bayern Munich.

Football coach tries surfing in Instagram photo

“For me, every special moment is necessarily linked to a particular watch, and every time I put it on, I am transported to that moment – like when we won the Champions League with Liverpool (in 2005) or the World Cup . with Spain (2010)’.

But a pretty watch will be his only accessory. “Tattoos are not for me. I just can’t imagine myself with piercings or chains or anything else,” he told the Suddeutsche Zeitung in 2016. “Obviously I’m hopelessly old-fashioned.”

Instagram photos showing Alonso skiing and snowboarding, however, suggest a livelier side to his personality.

Right now, after Leverkusen finally ended one of the sport’s longest curses, there is no hotter property in football.