Xabi Alonso Walking a Thin Tightrope at the Bernabéu Despite Squad Endorsement.

No offensive player in the club's history had gone scoreless for as long as Rodrygo, but eventually he was released and he had a statement to send, acted out for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in almost a year and was beginning only his fifth game this campaign, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the lead against Manchester City. Then he wheeled and sprinted towards the sideline to hug Xabi Alonso, the coach on the edge for whom this could prove an more significant liberation.

“It’s a challenging period for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Performances aren’t coming off and I sought to demonstrate the public that we are together with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the lead had been taken from them, a defeat taking its place. City had come back, going 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso remarked. That can occur when you’re in a “sensitive” situation, he continued, but at least Madrid had reacted. On this occasion, they could not pull off a comeback. Endrick, on as a substitute having played very little all season, hit the woodwork in the closing stages.

A Delayed Verdict

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo said. The question was whether it would be enough for Alonso to retain his job. “That wasn't our perception [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was understood behind closed doors. “We demonstrated that we’re behind the coach: we have given a good account, provided 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so the axe was postponed, consequences delayed, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A More Credible Type of Defeat

Madrid had been defeated at home for the second time in four days, continuing their uninspiring streak to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this felt a little different. This was Manchester City, as opposed to a domestic opponent. Simplified, they had competed with intensity, the easiest and most damning accusation not levelled at them in this instance. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a spot-kick, almost salvaging something at the final whistle. 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 Fans' Ambivalent Response

That was not completely the complete picture. There were moments in the latter period, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had voiced its disapproval. At the conclusion, a section of supporters had done so again, although there was also pockets of appreciation. But mostly, there was a quiet flow to the subway. “It's to be expected, we understand it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso remarked: “It’s nothing that doesn't occur before. And there were moments when they clapped too.”

Player Support Remains Firm

“I have the support of the players,” Alonso said. And if he supported them, they supported him too, at least in front of the media. There has been a rapprochement, talks: the coach had accommodated them, perhaps more than they had adapted to him, meeting a point not exactly in the center.

Whether durable a solution that is continues to be an matter of debate. One seemingly minor exchange in the after-game press conference appeared significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to follow his own path, Alonso had permitted that notion to linger, responding: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we understand each other well and he knows what he is saying.”

A Foundation of Resistance

Most importantly though, he could be satisfied that there was a spirit, a pushback. Madrid’s players had not abandoned their coach during the game and after it they publicly backed him. Part of it may have been theatrical, done out of obligation or mutual survival, but in this tense environment, it was significant. The effort with which they played had been as well – even if there is a danger of the most basic of requirements somehow being promoted as a type of achievement.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a strategy, that their failings were not his doing. “In my view my teammate Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The sole solution is [for] the players to change the approach. The attitude is the key thing and today we have observed a shift.”

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

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

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

“Every situation ends in the end,” Alonso philosophized, possibly referring as much about a difficult spell as anything else.