Manager Alonso Treading a Precarious Tightrope at Madrid Even With Dressing Room Endorsement.

No forward in Real Madrid’s history had experienced without a goal for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but at last he was freed and he had a declaration to send, performed for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in almost a year and was commencing only his fifth match this season, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the opening goal against the English champions. Then he wheeled and charged towards the bench to greet Xabi Alonso, the boss on the edge for whom this could represent an more significant relief.

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

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the lead had been taken from them, a defeat following. City had turned it around, going 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso remarked. That can occur when you’re in a “delicate” state, he added, but at least Madrid had fought back. On this occasion, they could not engineer a recovery. Endrick, brought on having played very little all season, struck the crossbar in the dying moments.

A Reserved Sentence

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo said. The issue was whether it would be adequate for Alonso to hold onto his job. “We didn’t feel that [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 perceived internally. “We demonstrated that we’re behind the coach: we have performed creditably, given 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so judgment was withheld, any action pending, with games against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A Different Kind of Defeat

Madrid had been defeated at home for the second occasion in four days, continuing their recent run to two wins in eight, but this felt a little different. This was the Premier League champions, as opposed to a La Liga opponent. Stripped down, they had shown fight, the easiest and most damning criticism not directed at them on this night. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a converted penalty, nearly salvaging something at the final whistle. There were “a lot of very good things” about this showing, the boss argued, and there could be “no blame” of his players, on this occasion.

The Bernabéu's Muted Response

That was not always the full story. There were spells in the second half, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had voiced its disapproval. At full time, some of supporters had done so again, although there was likewise sporadic clapping. But mostly, there was a muted procession to the subway. “We understand that, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso remarked: “It’s nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were moments when they cheered too.”

Player Backing Stands Strong

“I sense the support of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he stood by them, they supported him too, at least in front of the cameras. There has been a unification, conversations: the coach had listened to them, maybe more than they had adapted to him, meeting common ground not exactly in the center.

The longevity of a solution that is continues to be an open question. One little exchange in the after-game press conference seemed significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to stick to his principles, Alonso had let that implication to remain unanswered, answering: “I share a good connection with Pep, we understand each other well and he knows what he is implying.”

A Starting Point of Fight

Above all though, he could be pleased that there was a spirit, a response. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they stood up for him. Some of this may have been performative, done out of obligation or self-preservation, but in this tense environment, it was significant. The commitment with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a danger of the most basic of requirements somehow being promoted as a type of success.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a vision, that their shortcomings were not his responsibility. “I believe my colleague Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The only way is [for] the players to change the attitude. The attitude is the key thing and today we have observed a difference.”

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

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

“Personally, I feel the coach has been great. I individually have a excellent connection with him,” Bellingham added. “After the run of games where we tied a few, we had some honest conversations among ourselves.”

“Every situation concludes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, possibly talking as much about a difficult spell as everything.