Manager Alonso Walking a Thin Tightrope at the Bernabéu Even With Player Support.

No offensive player in Real Madrid’s record books had endured failing to find the net for as long as Rodrygo, but eventually he was freed and he had a message to deliver, acted out for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in an extended drought and was starting only his fifth match this term, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the opening goal against the English champions. Then he spun and ran towards the bench to embrace Xabi Alonso, the coach under pressure for whom this could signal an even greater liberation.

“This is a tough moment for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Performances aren’t coming off and I wanted to show people that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo spoke, the lead had been surrendered, a setback following. City had turned it around, going 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso observed. That can transpire when you’re in a “fragile” condition, he added, but at least Madrid had fought back. Ultimately, they could not complete a comeback. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played a handful of minutes all season, hit the bar in the final seconds.

A Delayed Judgment

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo conceded. The question was whether it would be adequate for Alonso to keep his role. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois stated, but that was how it had been portrayed in the media, and how it was perceived internally. “We demonstrated that we’re supporting the coach: we have played well, provided 100%,” Courtois added. And so the axe was withheld, sentencing delayed, with games against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A More Credible Type of Setback

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second match in four days, extending their recent run to two wins in eight, but this seemed a little different. This was the Premier League champions, rather than a lesser opponent. Streamlined, they had competed with intensity, the easiest and most critical charge not levelled at them in this instance. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a penalty, coming close to earning something at the end. There were “many of very good things” about this performance, the manager argued, and there could be “no blame” of his players, tonight.

The Stadium's Mixed Reception

That was not entirely the full story. There were spells in the latter period, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At full time, a section of supporters had repeated that, although there was also some applause. But mostly, there was a subdued flow to the subway. “It's to be expected, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso remarked: “There's nothing that doesn't occur before. And there were times when they applauded too.”

Player Unity Remains Evident

“I feel the backing of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he supported them, they stood by him too, at least in front of the media. There has been a coming together, discussions: the coach had accommodated them, arguably more than they had accommodated him, meeting somewhere not precisely in the center.

The longevity of a solution that is is still an open question. One little moment in the after-game press conference seemed significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to do things his way, Alonso had let that notion to remain unanswered, responding: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we understand each other well and he is aware of what he is talking about.”

A Starting Point of Reaction

Crucially though, he could be satisfied that there was a spirit, a reaction. 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 performative, done out of professionalism or self-preservation, but in this climate, it was important. The intensity with which they played had been as well – even if there is a risk of the most elementary of expectations somehow being framed as a kind of achievement.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a plan, that their shortcomings were not his doing. “In my view my teammate Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The key is [for] the players to alter the mindset. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have witnessed a difference.”

Jude Bellingham, pressed if they were behind the coach, also responded in numbers: “100%.”

“We persist in trying to work it out in the changing room,” he said. “We understand that the [outside] speculation will not be productive so it is about striving to fix it in there.”

“In my opinion the gaffer has been excellent. I myself have a strong rapport with him,” Bellingham added. “After the run of games where we drew a few, we had some honest conversations behind the scenes.”

“Everything ends in the end,” Alonso mused, perhaps referring as much about poor form as his own predicament.