Manager Alonso Navigating a Fine Tightrope at Real Madrid Despite Squad Endorsement.

No forward in Los Blancos' annals had experienced without a goal for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but eventually he was unleashed and he had a message to send, performed for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had not scored in nine months and was beginning only his fifth appearance this campaign, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the advantage against Manchester City. Then he wheeled and ran towards the sideline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the coach in the spotlight for whom this could signal an profound relief.

“This is a tough time for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Things aren't working out and I aimed to demonstrate the public that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo spoke, the lead had been lost, a setback ensuing. City had reversed the score, taking 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso remarked. That can happen when you’re in a “delicate” state, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had responded. This time, they could not pull off a recovery. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played very little all season, struck the bar in the closing stages.

A Reserved Judgment

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo conceded. The issue was whether it would be adequate for Alonso to hold onto his role. “We didn't view it as [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was perceived internally. “Our performance proved that we’re supporting the coach: we have played well, offered 100%,” Courtois added. And so the axe was postponed, any action delayed, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A Different Kind of Defeat

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second time in four days, continuing their uninspiring streak to two wins in eight, but this felt a more respectable. This was the Premier League champions, not a La Liga opponent. Stripped down, they had competed with intensity, the simplest and most critical charge not levelled at them on this night. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a converted penalty, coming close to securing something at the final whistle. There were “numerous of very good things” about this display, the head coach said, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, tonight.

The Bernabéu's Ambivalent Reception

That was not entirely the complete picture. There were moments in the closing 45 minutes, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the final whistle, a section of supporters had continued, although there was likewise some applause. But primarily, there was a muted flow to the exits. “That’s normal, we understand it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso remarked: “There's nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were times when they clapped too.”

Dressing Room Unity Remains Firm

“I feel the support of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he backed them, they stood by him too, at least towards the media. There has been a rapprochement, discussions: the coach had listened to them, arguably more than they had adapted to him, meeting a point not exactly in the center.

How lasting a fix that is remains an open question. One seemingly minor exchange in the after-game press conference appeared telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to stick to his principles, Alonso had let that idea to hang there, answering: “I have a good connection with Pep, we understand each other well and he understands what he is talking about.”

A Basis of Resistance

Crucially though, he could be satisfied that there was a fight, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they publicly backed him. Part of it may have been theatrical, done out of obligation or self-interest, but in this context, it was meaningful. The intensity with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a temptation of the most fundamental of requirements somehow being framed as a kind of positive.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a vision, that their failings were not his fault. “I believe my colleague Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The key is [for] the players to alter the mindset. The attitude is the crucial element and today we have seen a shift.”

Jude Bellingham, pressed if they were supporting the coach, also replied in numbers: “100%.”

“We persist in trying to figure it out in the locker room,” he elaborated. “We understand that the [outside] noise will not be helpful so it is about attempting to resolve it in there.”

“I think the manager has been excellent. I individually have a great rapport with him,” Bellingham concluded. “After the run of games where we were held a few, we had some honest conversations internally.”

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