Manager Alonso Treading a Fine Line at Madrid Even With Dressing Room Support.

No offensive player in Real Madrid’s history had endured without a goal for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but finally he was freed and he had a declaration to send, executed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in nine months and was commencing only his fifth game this term, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the advantage against the English champions. Then he turned and charged towards the sideline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the coach under pressure for whom this could signal an profound liberation.

“It’s a challenging time for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Performances are not going our way and I aimed to demonstrate people that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the advantage had been taken from them, another loss following. City had turned it around, taking 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso observed. That can happen when you’re in a “delicate” state, he added, but at least Madrid had fought back. This time, they could not complete a turnaround. Endrick, brought on having played a handful of minutes all season, rattled the bar in the closing stages.

A Suspended Verdict

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo said. The dilemma was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to retain his job. “We didn't view it as [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois stated, but that was how it had been presented externally, and how it was felt privately. “We have shown that we’re with the manager: we have performed creditably, offered 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so judgment was reserved, sentencing suspended, with games against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A More Credible Type of Setback

Madrid had been defeated at home for the second time in four days, perpetuating their uninspiring streak to two wins in eight, but this felt a little different. This was Manchester City, rather than a domestic opponent. Simplified, they had shown fight, the most obvious and most critical charge not directed at them in this instance. With multiple players out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a penalty, coming close to earning something at the final whistle. There were “numerous of very good things” about this display, the head coach stated, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, not this time.

The Stadium's Mixed Reception

That was not always the case. There were periods in the closing 45 minutes, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At the final whistle, some of supporters had continued, although there was likewise pockets of appreciation. But primarily, there was a quiet procession to the exits. “We understand that, we understand it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso added: “This is nothing that doesn't occur before. And there were times when they cheered too.”

Dressing Room Support Remains Firm

“I feel the confidence of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he backed them, they supported him too, at least for the media. There has been a unification, conversations: the coach had considered them, arguably more than they had embraced him, finding a point not quite in the compromise.

The longevity of a fix that is remains an open question. One little incident in the after-game press conference seemed significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to follow his own path, Alonso had let that notion to hang there, replying: “I share a good relationship with Pep, we know each other well and he knows what he is implying.”

A Foundation of Fight

Above all though, he could be content 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 for show, done out of obligation or self-preservation, but in this climate, it was significant. The effort with which they played had been too – even if there is a temptation of the most elementary of requirements somehow being promoted as a type of success.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a strategy, that their mistakes were not his fault. “In my view my teammate Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The sole solution is [for] the players to alter the mindset. The attitude is the crucial element and today we have witnessed a change.”

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

“We are continuing attempting to figure it out in the locker room,” he continued. “We understand that the [outside] speculation will not be productive so it is about striving to resolve it in there.”

“In my opinion the manager has been great. I individually have a strong rapport with him,” Bellingham concluded. “After the run of games where we were held a few, we had some very productive conversations behind the scenes.”

“All things concludes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, perhaps referring as much about poor form as anything else.