Alonso Walking a Thin Line at the Bernabéu Despite Player Support.

No offensive player in Real Madrid’s record books had endured scoreless for as long as Rodrygo, but eventually he was unleashed and he had a message to send, executed for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had not scored in an extended drought and was beginning only his fifth game this season, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the advantage against Manchester City. Then he wheeled and charged towards the sideline to hug Xabi Alonso, the manager in the spotlight for whom this could represent an profound relief.

“It’s a difficult moment for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Things are not going our way and I sought to show people that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the advantage had been taken from them, a defeat ensuing. City had come back, going 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso noted. That can occur when you’re in a “fragile” state, he added, but at least Madrid had responded. Ultimately, they could not complete a recovery. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played 11 minutes all season, struck the woodwork in the closing stages.

A Reserved Verdict

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo said. The issue was whether it would be adequate for Alonso to keep his position. “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. “Our performance proved that we’re behind the coach: we have performed creditably, provided 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so the axe was withheld, consequences pending, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A Different Kind of Loss

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second time in four days, perpetuating their recent run to just two victories in eight, but this was a somewhat distinct. This was Manchester City, rather than a La Liga opponent. Simplified, they had competed with intensity, the easiest and most critical accusation not directed at them this time. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a penalty, coming close to earning something at the end. There were “a lot of very good things” about this display, the head coach argued, and there could be “no blame” of his players, not this time.

The Bernabéu's Ambivalent Response

That was not completely the case. There were spells in the closing 45 minutes, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the conclusion, some of supporters had repeated that, although there was likewise some applause. But primarily, there was a muted procession to the subway. “That’s normal, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso added: “There's nothing that doesn't occur before. And there were moments when they applauded too.”

Dressing Room Support Stands Strong

“I have the support of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he stood by them, they stood by him too, at least in front of the public. There has been a coming together, conversations: the coach had accommodated them, maybe more than they had embraced him, finding somewhere not exactly in the compromise.

Whether durable a fix that is is still an matter of debate. One small moment in the after-game press conference seemed significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s suggestion to stick to his principles, Alonso had permitted that notion to remain unanswered, answering: “I share a good relationship with Pep, we know each other well and he is aware of what he is saying.”

A Starting Point of Resistance

Crucially though, he could be content that there was a fight, a pushback. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they stood up for him. Part of it may have been theatrical, done out of obligation or self-preservation, but in this tense environment, it was significant. The commitment with which they played had been as well – even if there is a temptation of the most elementary of standards somehow being elevated as a kind of positive.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a strategy, that their failings were not his fault. “I believe my colleague Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The sole solution is [for] the players to improve the mindset. The attitude is the key thing and today we have observed a difference.”

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

“We are continuing trying to figure it out in the dressing room,” he elaborated. “We understand that the [outside] speculation will not be helpful so it is about attempting to sort it out in there.”

“Personally, I feel the gaffer has been superb. I personally have a excellent rapport with him,” Bellingham stated. “After the sequence of games where we drew a few, we had some honest conversations internally.”

“Everything concludes in the end,” Alonso concluded, perhaps speaking as much about poor form as his own predicament.