Manager Alonso Treading a Thin Path at Real Madrid Even With Squad Backing.

No offensive player in Real Madrid’s history had endured scoreless for as long as Rodrygo, but eventually he was freed and he had a statement to broadcast, acted out for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in nine months and was beginning only his fifth match this term, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the lead against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he spun and sprinted towards the touchline to hug Xabi Alonso, the coach on the edge for whom this could represent an more significant release.

“It’s a tough time for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Things 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 lost, another loss ensuing. City had reversed the score, taking 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso observed. That can transpire when you’re in a “fragile” state, he continued, but at least Madrid had reacted. Ultimately, they could not pull off a recovery. Endrick, on as a substitute having played a handful of minutes all season, rattled the crossbar in the dying moments.

A Reserved 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],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois insisted, but that was how it had been presented externally, and how it was understood behind closed doors. “We have shown that we’re behind the coach: we have given a good account, given 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so the final decision was reserved, any action suspended, with fixtures against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A Different Type of Setback

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second time in four days, continuing their poor form to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this felt a somewhat distinct. This was Manchester City, rather than a lesser opponent. Simplified, they had shown fight, the simplest and most damning accusation not aimed at them on this night. With multiple players out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a spot-kick, nearly securing something at the final whistle. There were “many of very good things” about this display, the boss stated, and there could be “no blame” of his players, on this occasion.

The Fans' Muted Reaction

That was not always the full story. There were spells in the closing 45 minutes, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the conclusion, a portion of supporters had repeated that, although there was likewise pockets of appreciation. But mostly, there was a quiet procession to the doors. “We understand that, we understand it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso added: “It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were times when they applauded too.”

Dressing Room Backing Remains Evident

“I have the support of the players,” Alonso said. And if he backed them, they supported him too, at least for the cameras. There has been a unification, conversations: the coach had accommodated them, perhaps more than they had adapted to him, meeting somewhere not exactly in the center.

How lasting a fix that is remains an matter of debate. One small incident in the post-match press conference seemed telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to follow his own path, Alonso had permitted that notion to remain unanswered, responding: “I share a good relationship with Pep, we understand each other well and he knows what he is talking about.”

A Foundation of Reaction

Most importantly though, he could be content that there was a resistance, a pushback. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they publicly backed him. This support may have been for show, done out of duty or self-interest, but in this climate, it was important. The intensity with which they played had been as well – even if there is a temptation of the most elementary of standards somehow being framed as a form of positive.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a strategy, that their shortcomings were not his responsibility. “I think my teammate Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The only way is [for] the players to alter the mindset. The attitude is the key thing and today we have observed a difference.”

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

“We’re still striving to work it out in the locker room,” he elaborated. “We understand that the [outside] chatter will not be helpful so it is about attempting to resolve it in there.”

“In my opinion the gaffer has been superb. I personally have a excellent connection with him,” Bellingham stated. “Following the spell of games where we tied a few, we had some honest conversations among ourselves.”

“Every situation concludes in the end,” Alonso mused, maybe speaking as much about adversity as his own predicament.