Xabi Alonso Navigating a Thin Path at Madrid Even With Squad Endorsement.

No attacker in Los Blancos' annals had endured failing to find the net for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but eventually he was unleashed and he had a message to deliver, executed for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had not scored in nine months and was beginning only his fifth match this term, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the advantage against the English champions. Then he turned and ran towards the bench to greet Xabi Alonso, the boss in the spotlight for whom this could represent an profound release.

“It’s a difficult time for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Results are not going our way and I aimed to demonstrate everyone that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo spoke, the advantage had been taken from them, a setback ensuing. City had turned it around, taking 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso remarked. That can happen when you’re in a “delicate” state, he continued, but at least Madrid had responded. This time, they could not engineer a turnaround. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played a handful of minutes all season, rattled the crossbar in the dying moments.

A Suspended Judgment

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo conceded. The question was whether it would be enough for Alonso to retain his role. “We didn't view it as [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois stated, but that was how it had been presented externally, and how it was felt privately. “Our performance proved that we’re with the coach: we have performed creditably, provided 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so judgment was postponed, consequences suspended, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A Distinct Kind of Defeat

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second occasion in four days, continuing their poor form to just two victories in eight, but this seemed a more respectable. This was Manchester City, as opposed to a domestic opponent. Streamlined, they had actually run, the most obvious and most harsh charge not levelled at them on this night. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a converted penalty, almost earning something at the death. There were “numerous of very good things” about this display, the manager argued, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, tonight.

The Stadium's Mixed Response

That was not always the complete picture. There were periods in the latter period, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had voiced its disapproval. At the final whistle, a section of supporters had done so again, although there was likewise sporadic clapping. But mostly, there was a muted flow to the doors. “That’s normal, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso remarked: “This is nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were moments when they applauded too.”

Dressing Room Unity Is Evident

“I have the backing of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he supported them, they backed him too, at least towards the public. There has been a rapprochement, talks: the coach had accommodated them, arguably more than they had accommodated him, finding somewhere not precisely in the middle.

How lasting a fix that is continues to be an open question. One little exchange in the after-game press conference seemed notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s suggestion to do things his way, Alonso had permitted that implication to linger, replying: “I have a good connection with Pep, we know each other well and he knows what he is talking about.”

A Foundation of Fight

Above all though, he could be pleased 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. Part of it may have been for show, done out of duty or mutual survival, but in this tense environment, it was meaningful. The commitment with which they played had been too – even if there is a risk of the most elementary of standards somehow being framed as a form of achievement.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a strategy, that their failings were not his doing. “I think my teammate Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The sole solution is [for] the players to change the approach. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have witnessed a change.”

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

“We persist in trying to solve it in the changing room,” he elaborated. “It's clear that the [outside] speculation will not be beneficial so it is about trying to resolve it in there.”

“In my opinion the coach has been superb. I myself have a excellent rapport with him,” Bellingham added. “After the sequence of games where we drew a few, we had some really great conversations behind the scenes.”

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