Alonso Treading a Precarious Line at the Bernabéu Amidst Dressing Room Backing.

No forward in Los Blancos' record books had gone scoreless for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but at last he was released and he had a message to deliver, performed for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had not scored in nine months and was commencing only his fifth appearance this campaign, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the lead against Manchester City. Then he wheeled and charged towards the touchline to hug Xabi Alonso, the coach under pressure for whom this could prove an even greater release.

“It’s a difficult period for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Performances aren’t coming off and I wanted to prove the public that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the lead had been lost, another loss ensuing. City had come back, taking 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso observed. That can transpire when you’re in a “fragile” condition, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had reacted. This time, they could not pull off a turnaround. Endrick, on as a substitute having played a handful of minutes all season, struck the crossbar in the final seconds.

A Delayed Verdict

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo conceded. The issue was whether it would be enough for Alonso to retain his role. “That wasn't our perception [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois insisted, but that was how it had been presented externally, and how it was understood behind closed doors. “Our performance proved that we’re behind the manager: we have given a good account, provided 100%,” Courtois added. And so the axe was withheld, consequences pending, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A Distinct Form of Setback

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second match in four days, continuing their uninspiring streak to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this was a little different. This was a European powerhouse, as opposed to a La Liga opponent. Simplified, they had shown fight, the easiest and most damning charge not aimed at them this time. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a spot-kick, coming close to earning something at the death. There were “numerous of very good things” about this showing, the manager stated, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, not this time.

The Stadium's Ambivalent Response

That was not entirely the complete picture. There were moments in the latter period, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At the conclusion, some of supporters had repeated that, although there was also some applause. But mostly, there was a quiet flow to the subway. “That’s normal, we understand it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso stated: “It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were moments when they applauded too.”

Squad Support Stands Strong

“I feel the backing of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he stood by them, they backed him too, at least for the public. There has been a rapprochement, discussions: the coach had accommodated them, perhaps more than they had adapted to him, meeting a point not precisely in the center.

Whether durable a fix that is is still an open question. One little moment in the after-game press conference appeared significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to follow his own path, Alonso had allowed that idea to hang there, responding: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we understand each other well and he is aware of what he is implying.”

A Starting Point of Fight

Most importantly though, he could be satisfied that there was a resistance, a response. Madrid’s players had not abandoned their coach during the game and after it they publicly backed him. Some of this may have been performative, done out of professionalism or mutual survival, but in this context, it was significant. The intensity with which they played had been as well – even if there is a danger of the most basic of standards somehow being elevated as a kind of achievement.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a strategy, that their mistakes were not his responsibility. “In my view my colleague Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The key is [for] the players to improve the approach. The attitude is the key thing and today we have seen a change.”

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

“We persist in trying to work it out in the locker room,” he continued. “It's clear that the [outside] chatter will not be beneficial so it is about trying to resolve it in there.”

“I think the gaffer has been great. I individually have a great connection with him,” Bellingham stated. “Following the sequence of games where we were held a few, we had some really great conversations internally.”

“All things ends in the end,” Alonso concluded, possibly speaking as much about poor form as everything.