Manager Alonso Walking a Precarious Path at Madrid Amidst Squad Support.

No forward in the club's record books had gone without a goal for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but at last he was released and he had a message to broadcast, executed for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in nine months and was commencing only his fifth match this campaign, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the advantage against Manchester City. Then he wheeled and ran towards the bench to greet Xabi Alonso, the manager on the edge for whom this could prove an more significant liberation.

“This is a tough moment for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Performances are not going our way and I aimed to show people that we are together with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the advantage had been surrendered, a defeat taking its place. City had turned it around, going 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso noted. That can happen when you’re in a “fragile” condition, he added, but at least Madrid had responded. On this occasion, they could not complete a comeback. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played a handful of minutes all season, struck the woodwork in the dying moments.

A Suspended Judgment

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo admitted. The question was whether it would be enough for Alonso to retain his position. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been presented externally, and how it was understood behind closed doors. “We demonstrated that we’re with the coach: we have given a good account, provided 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so the axe was postponed, sentencing delayed, with fixtures against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A Different Kind of Setback

Madrid had been defeated at home for the second occasion in four days, extending their recent run to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this seemed a little different. This was Manchester City, as opposed to a lesser opponent. Stripped down, they had competed with intensity, the most obvious and most harsh criticism not directed at them in this instance. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a spot-kick, coming close to earning something at the end. There were “numerous of very good things” about this display, the boss said, and there could be “no blame” of his players, tonight.

The Bernabéu's Ambivalent Reaction

That was not entirely the full story. There were moments in the second half, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the conclusion, a portion of supporters had done so again, although there was in addition sporadic clapping. But mostly, there was a muted stream to the exits. “That’s normal, we accept it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso remarked: “It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were times when they clapped too.”

Squad Backing Stands Firm

“I feel the backing of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he backed them, they stood by him too, at least in front of the media. There has been a unification, talks: the coach had accommodated them, arguably more than they had adapted to him, reaching somewhere not precisely in the center.

The longevity of a solution that is remains an unresolved issue. One little exchange in the post-match press conference appeared notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to follow his own path, Alonso had let that implication to linger, replying: “I have a good connection with Pep, we know each other well and he understands what he is talking about.”

A Basis of Resistance

Most importantly though, he could be pleased that there was a resistance, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they stood up for him. Part of it may have been theatrical, done out of duty or self-preservation, but in this tense environment, it was important. The effort with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a temptation of the most fundamental of expectations somehow being framed as a type of success.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a vision, that their shortcomings were not his fault. “I believe my colleague Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The key is [for] the players to change the attitude. The attitude is the key thing and today we have observed a shift.”

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

“We’re still attempting to figure it out in the locker room,” he continued. “It's clear that the [outside] chatter will not be helpful so it is about striving to fix it in there.”

“I think the coach has been great. I myself have a excellent relationship with him,” Bellingham added. “After the spell of games where we drew a few, we had some really great conversations behind the scenes.”

“All things concludes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, possibly speaking as much about poor form as anything else.