Xabi Alonso Navigating a Fine Path at Real Madrid Even With Squad Endorsement.

No forward in Real Madrid’s history had experienced without a goal for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but finally he was freed and he had a message to broadcast, acted out for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in nine months and was starting only his fifth appearance this term, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the lead against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he spun and charged towards the touchline to greet Xabi Alonso, the manager on the edge for whom this could represent an even greater liberation.

“This is a difficult period for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Things aren’t coming off and I wanted to prove everyone that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo spoke, the lead had been lost, another loss taking its place. City had come back, going 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso remarked. That can transpire when you’re in a “sensitive” state, he added, but at least Madrid had reacted. On this occasion, they could not pull off a recovery. Endrick, brought on having played very little all season, struck the bar in the final seconds.

A Suspended Judgment

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo admitted. The question was whether it would be enough for Alonso to keep his position. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois insisted, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was perceived internally. “We have shown that we’re supporting the coach: we have given a good account, provided 100%,” Courtois added. And so the final decision was reserved, sentencing pending, with games against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A Different Type of Loss

Madrid had been defeated at home for the second match in four days, extending their recent run to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this was a somewhat distinct. This was the Premier League champions, as opposed to a lesser opponent. Streamlined, they had shown fight, the easiest and most harsh criticism not levelled at them in this instance. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a converted penalty, almost earning something at the end. There were “many of very good things” about this performance, the boss argued, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, not this time.

The Stadium's Ambivalent Response

That was not entirely the case. There were spells in the closing 45 minutes, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At full time, some of supporters had repeated that, although there was likewise sporadic clapping. But primarily, there was a subdued stream to the exits. “That’s normal, we accept it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso remarked: “This is nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were moments when they clapped too.”

Player Backing Stands Strong

“I have the backing of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he supported them, they supported him too, at least for the public. There has been a coming together, talks: the coach had accommodated them, maybe more than they had embraced him, finding a point not precisely in the compromise.

The longevity of a fix that is remains an open question. One seemingly minor moment in the post-match press conference appeared significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s suggestion to follow his own path, Alonso had permitted that implication to hang there, responding: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we know each other well and he is aware of what he is implying.”

A Starting Point of Reaction

Above all though, he could be content that there was a fight, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not given up 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-interest, but in this context, it was significant. The intensity with which they played had been too – even if there is a risk of the most fundamental of standards somehow being promoted as a kind of success.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a vision, that their failings were not his responsibility. “I think my colleague Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The only way is [for] the players to alter the attitude. The attitude is the key thing and today we have witnessed a shift.”

Jude Bellingham, pressed if they were supporting the coach, also answered with a figure: “100%.”

“We are continuing striving to figure it out in the dressing room,” he elaborated. “It's clear that the [outside] speculation will not be productive so it is about striving to fix it in there.”

“I think the coach has been superb. I personally have a excellent rapport with him,” Bellingham added. “Following the spell of games where we tied a few, we had some honest conversations among ourselves.”

“Everything passes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, maybe referring as much about adversity as anything else.