Manager Alonso Walking a Thin Line at Real Madrid Even With Squad Endorsement.

No forward in Real Madrid’s record books had gone failing to find the net for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but eventually he was freed and he had a message to deliver, executed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in an extended drought and was beginning only his fifth appearance this campaign, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the opening goal against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he spun and ran towards the sideline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the manager on the edge for whom this could prove an profound liberation.

“This is a difficult time for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Results are not going our way and I sought to prove everyone that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the lead had been surrendered, a defeat taking its place. City had reversed the score, going 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso noted. That can happen when you’re in a “delicate” state, he added, but at least Madrid had fought back. Ultimately, they could not complete a recovery. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played very little all season, hit the crossbar in the dying moments.

A Delayed Verdict

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo said. The issue was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to keep his role. “That wasn't our perception [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been presented externally, and how it was felt privately. “We have shown that we’re behind the manager: we have played well, given 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so judgment was postponed, any action pending, with fixtures against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A Different Type of Defeat

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second occasion in four days, perpetuating their recent run to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this seemed a little different. This was the Premier League champions, as opposed to a domestic opponent. Streamlined, they had actually run, the most obvious and most damning criticism not aimed at them in this instance. With multiple players out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a spot-kick, almost salvaging something at the final whistle. There were “numerous of very good things” about this showing, the head coach stated, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, on this occasion.

The Fans' Mixed Response

That was not entirely the case. There were periods in the second half, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At full time, a section of supporters had repeated that, although there was also sporadic clapping. But for the most part, there was a subdued flow to the exits. “We understand that, we accept it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso added: “There's nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were times when they applauded too.”

Dressing Room Backing Stands Firm

“I sense the confidence of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he backed them, they supported him too, at least towards the media. There has been a unification, conversations: the coach had accommodated them, perhaps more than they had embraced him, reaching common ground not exactly in the middle.

The longevity of a fix that is continues to be an open question. One little moment in the post-match press conference felt telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to stick to his principles, Alonso had permitted that notion to remain unanswered, replying: “I have a good rapport with Pep, we understand each other well and he understands what he is saying.”

A Basis of Resistance

Above all though, he could be pleased that there was a resistance, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they stood up for him. Some of this may have been performative, done out of obligation or mutual survival, but in this climate, it was important. The effort with which they played had been as well – even if there is a risk of the most fundamental of expectations somehow being promoted as a kind of positive.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a vision, that their mistakes were not his fault. “I think my colleague Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The only way is [for] the players to change the attitude. The attitude is the crucial element and today we have seen a change.”

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

“We persist in striving to work it out in the locker room,” he continued. “We understand that the [outside] chatter will not be helpful so it is about attempting to sort it out in there.”

“I think the manager has been superb. I personally have a strong connection with him,” Bellingham added. “Following the run of games where we were held a few, we had some very productive conversations among ourselves.”

“Every situation ends in the end,” Alonso concluded, possibly speaking as much about poor form as his own predicament.