Having already announced he will retire in the summer, Xabi Alonso is eager to make his swansong season one to remember.

His Bayern Munich team are well on course to achieve a domestic double and are still in with a chance of progressing through to the Champions League semi-finals, providing they overturn a 2-1 deficit in their second leg with Real Madrid.

That game on Tuesday will see Alonso return to the Bernabeu, where he won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and Champions League during his successful five-year stint between 2009-14.

However, he has revealed in a recent interview with El Pais that he came close to signing for Los Blancos' fierce rivals Barcelona before he moved to the Spanish capital.

In the summer of 2009, Alonso had been told by Liverpool that they wanted to sell him and talks were held with various managers, including Pep Guardiola, who had begun his Barca revolution.

So how did Alonso end up at the Bernabeu instead?

Well, according to the man himself, the decision was made for him when Guardiola opted to stick with a young talent breaking through the academy at the time called Sergio Busquets.

"It happened not long before I left for Real Madrid," Alonso explained, via AS.

"Liverpool told me that they wanted to sell me, [the Reds' manager at that time, Rafa] Benítez too, and Pep showed an interest in my situation.

"He wanted to sign me because, as he told Rafa, I was the type of player who would fit his [playing] model. But he had doubts because Busquets had just come through and had the makings of a tremendous player.

"Guardiola chose him, and he wasn't proved wrong."

The now Manchester City boss did eventually get the chance to work with Alonso at Bayern Munich just a few years later.

Naturally, the pair got on like a house on fire and there's no doubt Guardiola's influence played a big part in Alonso's consistency at the Allianz Arena.

Even at 35-years-old, the Spanish midfielder still has a useful role to play in Carlo Ancelotti's side and you wouldn't bet against him adding a few more winners medals to his glittering collection before the season is over.