Xabi Alonso Navigating a Precarious Tightrope at Madrid Amidst Player Backing.

No attacker in Real Madrid’s record books had gone without a goal for as long as Rodrygo, but eventually he was unleashed and he had a declaration to deliver, performed for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in almost a year and was beginning only his fifth match this campaign, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the advantage against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he turned and sprinted towards the touchline to hug Xabi Alonso, the manager on the edge for whom this could signal an more significant relief.

“It’s a tough moment for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Results aren't working out and I sought to prove people that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the lead had been lost, a defeat ensuing. City had turned it around, taking 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso remarked. That can happen when you’re in a “delicate” situation, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had responded. Ultimately, they could not complete a comeback. Endrick, on as a substitute having played a handful of minutes all season, rattled the bar in the final seconds.

A Reserved Judgment

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo admitted. The dilemma 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 remarked, but that was how it had been framed publicly, 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 judgment was withheld, consequences pending, with games against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A More Credible Form of Defeat

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second time in four days, extending their poor form to two wins in eight, but this was a more respectable. This was Manchester City, as opposed to a domestic opponent. Stripped down, they had competed with intensity, the most obvious and most critical accusation not levelled at them on this night. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a penalty, coming close to salvaging something at the final whistle. There were “a lot of very good things” about this performance, the manager said, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, on this occasion.

The Stadium's Ambivalent Reaction

That was not entirely the complete picture. There were spells in the closing 45 minutes, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the final whistle, a section of supporters had done so again, although there was in addition pockets of appreciation. But for the most part, there was a muted stream to the doors. “That’s normal, we accept it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso remarked: “There's nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were moments when they applauded too.”

Dressing Room Support Remains Evident

“I have the support of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he backed them, they stood by him too, at least in front of the public. There has been a coming together, talks: the coach had accommodated them, perhaps more than they had embraced him, reaching a point not exactly in the compromise.

The longevity of a fix that is continues to be an unresolved issue. One seemingly minor incident in the after-game press conference felt notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to follow his own path, Alonso had permitted that implication to remain unanswered, responding: “I have a good rapport with Pep, we understand each other well and he knows what he is talking about.”

A Foundation of Resistance

Crucially though, he could be content that there was a fight, a pushback. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they publicly backed him. This support may have been performative, done out of obligation or mutual survival, but in this tense environment, it was meaningful. The effort with which they played had been as well – even if there is a danger of the most basic of expectations somehow being promoted as a kind of success.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a plan, that their shortcomings were not his doing. “I think my colleague Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The key is [for] the players to alter the mindset. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have witnessed a change.”

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

“We persist in trying to work it out in the dressing room,” he said. “It's clear that the [outside] speculation will not be beneficial so it is about trying to fix it in there.”

“In my opinion the gaffer has been superb. I personally have a excellent rapport with him,” Bellingham concluded. “Following the sequence of games where we tied a few, we had some honest conversations internally.”

“All things concludes in the end,” Alonso concluded, possibly referring as much about a difficult spell as his own predicament.