Alonso Navigating a Thin Path at Madrid Amidst Player Support.

No forward in Real Madrid’s history had experienced without a goal for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but finally he was unleashed and he had a message to send, performed for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in nine months and was beginning only his fifth appearance this term, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to secure the lead against the English champions. Then he wheeled and sprinted towards the sideline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the coach in the spotlight for whom this could signal an profound liberation.

“It’s a challenging period for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Things aren’t coming off and I aimed to demonstrate people that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo spoke, the lead had been taken from them, a setback ensuing. City had turned it around, going 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso noted. That can transpire when you’re in a “delicate” state, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had fought back. This time, they could not complete a comeback. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played a handful of minutes all season, struck the bar in the dying moments.

A Delayed Judgment

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo said. The question was whether it would be enough for Alonso to hold onto his position. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was felt privately. “Our performance proved that we’re supporting the coach: we have played well, provided 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so judgment was reserved, consequences pending, with games against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A More Credible Type of Setback

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second time in four days, continuing their poor form to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this was a little different. This was Manchester City, rather than a domestic opponent. Simplified, they had actually run, the most obvious and most damning criticism not directed at them in this instance. With multiple players out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a converted penalty, coming close to securing something at the end. There were “many of very good things” about this performance, the manager said, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, not this time.

The Bernabéu's Muted Response

That was not completely the case. There were moments in the second half, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At the conclusion, a section of supporters had continued, although there was also some applause. But mostly, there was a quiet procession to the exits. “We understand that, we accept it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso remarked: “This is nothing that doesn't occur before. And there were times when they clapped too.”

Player Support Is Strong

“I have the backing of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he stood by them, they stood by him too, at least in front of the cameras. There has been a unification, discussions: the coach had listened to them, perhaps more than they had adapted to him, meeting a point not precisely in the middle.

Whether durable a fix that is is still an matter of debate. One small moment in the after-game press conference felt notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s suggestion to stick to his principles, Alonso had permitted that notion to linger, answering: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we understand each other well and he knows what he is saying.”

A Starting Point of Reaction

Most importantly though, he could be pleased that there was a spirit, a pushback. Madrid’s players had not abandoned their coach during the game and after it they publicly backed him. Some of this may have been performative, done out of obligation or mutual survival, but in this tense environment, it was important. The intensity with which they played had been as well – even if there is a risk of the most basic of requirements somehow being framed as a type of success.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a plan, that their mistakes were not his fault. “I think my teammate Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The key is [for] the players to improve the mindset. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have witnessed a difference.”

Jude Bellingham, asked if they were behind the coach, also answered quantitatively: “100%.”

“We’re still striving to work it out in the dressing room,” he continued. “It's clear that the [outside] speculation will not be beneficial so it is about trying to resolve it in there.”

“I think the coach has been superb. I myself have a great relationship with him,” Bellingham stated. “Following the sequence of games where we tied a few, we had some honest conversations behind the scenes.”

“Everything ends in the end,” Alonso mused, maybe referring as much about a difficult spell as his own predicament.