Xabi Alonso Treading a Thin Tightrope at Real Madrid Even With Dressing Room Support.

No offensive player in Los Blancos' annals had gone failing to find the net for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but at last he was unleashed and he had a statement to broadcast, executed for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in an extended drought 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 spun and charged towards the touchline to greet Xabi Alonso, the boss in the spotlight for whom this could prove an profound liberation.

“This is a tough time for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Performances aren't working out and I wanted to show people that we are together with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo spoke, the advantage had been taken from them, a defeat ensuing. City had reversed the score, taking 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso observed. That can happen when you’re in a “delicate” condition, he added, but at least Madrid had fought back. Ultimately, they could not engineer a comeback. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played very little all season, rattled the crossbar in the final seconds.

A Delayed Verdict

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo conceded. The dilemma was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to hold onto his job. “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 felt privately. “We demonstrated that we’re supporting the manager: we have performed creditably, given 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so the axe was withheld, any action delayed, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A More Credible Type of Loss

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second match in four days, continuing their recent run to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this seemed a little different. This was Manchester City, rather than a domestic opponent. Simplified, they had actually run, the simplest and most damning criticism not aimed at them on this night. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a penalty, almost securing something at the end. There were “many of very good things” about this performance, the manager stated, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, not this time.

The Bernabéu's Mixed Reception

That was not always the case. There were spells in the closing 45 minutes, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At full time, a section of supporters had continued, although there was also pockets of appreciation. But mostly, there was a subdued stream to the exits. “We understand that, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso stated: “There's nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were times when they cheered too.”

Squad Backing Stands Firm

“I have the confidence of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he stood by them, they backed him too, at least in front of the cameras. There has been a coming together, conversations: the coach had accommodated them, perhaps more than they had accommodated him, finding a point not quite in the center.

The longevity of a fix that is is still an unresolved issue. One seemingly minor exchange in the post-match press conference appeared notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to do things his way, Alonso had permitted that idea to hang there, replying: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we know each other well and he understands what he is implying.”

A Starting Point of Resistance

Most importantly though, he could be satisfied that there was a spirit, a pushback. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they stood up for him. Some of this may have been performative, done out of professionalism or self-preservation, but in this climate, it was important. The commitment with which they played had been as well – even if there is a danger of the most elementary of standards somehow being elevated as a kind of positive.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a vision, that their shortcomings were not his responsibility. “In my view my teammate Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The key is [for] the players to change the mindset. The attitude is the key thing and today we have witnessed a difference.”

Jude Bellingham, asked if they were with the coach, also replied quantitatively: “100%.”

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

“I think the manager has been excellent. I myself have a strong relationship with him,” Bellingham added. “After the spell of games where we were held a few, we had some really great conversations among ourselves.”

“All things passes in the end,” Alonso mused, perhaps speaking as much about poor form as anything else.