Xabi Alonso Navigating a Fine Line at Real Madrid Even With Player Endorsement.

No forward in the club's history had gone without a goal for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but at last he was released and he had a message to send, executed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in almost a year and was starting only his fifth match this term, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to secure the lead against Manchester City. Then he spun and charged towards the sideline to hug Xabi Alonso, the manager under pressure for whom this could represent an even greater release.

“It’s a challenging time for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Results aren’t coming off and I sought to demonstrate everyone that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the advantage had been lost, a setback ensuing. City had reversed the score, taking 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso noted. That can transpire when you’re in a “delicate” condition, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had fought back. Ultimately, they could not engineer a turnaround. Endrick, brought on having played very little all season, struck the woodwork in the dying moments.

A Reserved Judgment

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo conceded. The issue was whether it would be adequate for Alonso to hold onto his role. “We didn't view it as [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 felt privately. “We demonstrated that we’re behind the manager: we have given a good account, offered 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so the final decision was postponed, sentencing pending, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A Different Kind of Setback

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second time in four days, perpetuating their recent run to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this felt a somewhat distinct. This was a European powerhouse, not a La Liga opponent. Simplified, they had actually run, the easiest and most damning accusation not aimed at them on this night. With multiple players out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a spot-kick, nearly salvaging something at the final whistle. There were “a lot of very good things” about this performance, the head coach argued, and there could be “no blame” of his players, on this occasion.

The Bernabéu's Muted Reception

That was not completely the full story. There were periods in the latter period, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the conclusion, a section of supporters had repeated that, although there was likewise some applause. But for the most part, there was a quiet stream to the exits. “It's to be expected, we understand it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso remarked: “There's nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were instances when they cheered too.”

Player Support Remains Firm

“I sense the confidence of the players,” Alonso said. And if he stood by them, they supported him too, at least towards the public. There has been a rapprochement, discussions: the coach had listened to them, maybe more than they had accommodated him, finding somewhere not quite in the compromise.

The longevity of a solution that is remains an unresolved issue. One little incident in the post-match press conference felt significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to do things his way, Alonso had permitted that notion to hang there, replying: “I share a good connection with Pep, we understand each other well and he is aware of what he is saying.”

A Foundation of Fight

Most importantly though, he could be content that there was a fight, a pushback. Madrid’s players had not abandoned their coach during the game and after it they publicly backed him. Some of this may have been performative, done out of duty or mutual survival, but in this climate, it was important. The commitment with which they played had been as well – even if there is a temptation of the most elementary of expectations somehow being elevated as a form of achievement.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a strategy, that their failings were not his fault. “I believe my teammate Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The only way is [for] the players to alter the mindset. The attitude is the key thing and today we have witnessed a change.”

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

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

“I think the gaffer has been superb. I individually have a excellent relationship with him,” Bellingham concluded. “After the sequence of games where we tied a few, we had some honest conversations among ourselves.”

“All things passes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, maybe talking as much about a difficult spell as his own predicament.