Manager Alonso Walking a Thin Path at Real Madrid Despite Dressing Room Endorsement.

No forward in Real Madrid’s annals had experienced scoreless for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but finally he was unleashed and he had a message to deliver, executed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in nine months and was beginning only his fifth appearance this season, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the lead against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he wheeled and ran towards the touchline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the manager on the edge for whom this could represent an even greater relief.

“It’s a challenging moment for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Performances are not going our way and I aimed to prove people that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the lead had been lost, a defeat taking its place. City had turned it around, going 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso noted. That can transpire when you’re in a “delicate” state, he added, but at least Madrid had reacted. On this occasion, they could not pull off a comeback. Endrick, brought on having played very little all season, hit the woodwork in the dying moments.

A Delayed Sentence

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo admitted. The dilemma was whether it would be enough for Alonso to keep his job. “That wasn't our perception [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois stated, but that was how it had been presented externally, and how it was perceived internally. “Our performance proved that we’re with the coach: we have performed creditably, given 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so judgment was reserved, consequences delayed, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A Distinct Form of Loss

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second match in four days, continuing their poor form to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this seemed a somewhat distinct. This was the Premier League champions, not a domestic opponent. Simplified, they had shown fight, the most obvious and most damning accusation not levelled at them this time. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a spot-kick, almost securing something at the end. There were “numerous of very good things” about this showing, the boss argued, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, on this occasion.

The Bernabéu's Mixed Response

That was not entirely the full story. There were spells in the latter period, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At the final whistle, a portion of supporters had repeated that, although there was also some applause. But for the most part, there was a subdued stream to the doors. “That’s normal, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso added: “This is nothing that doesn't occur before. And there were times when they applauded too.”

Dressing Room Support Stands Firm

“I sense the confidence of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he supported them, they backed him too, at least for the cameras. There has been a unification, talks: the coach had listened to them, maybe more than they had accommodated him, finding a point not quite in the middle.

The longevity of a remedy that is continues to be an matter of debate. One small exchange in the post-match press conference felt telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to do things his way, Alonso had permitted that notion to hang there, replying: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we know each other well and he understands what he is talking about.”

A Basis of Resistance

Above all though, he could be pleased that there was a resistance, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they stood up for him. This support may have been theatrical, done out of professionalism or self-preservation, but in this context, it was significant. The intensity with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a temptation of the most basic of standards somehow being framed as a form of success.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a vision, that their shortcomings were not his doing. “I think my teammate Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The key is [for] the players to alter the approach. The attitude is the key thing and today we have seen a difference.”

Jude Bellingham, questioned if they were behind the coach, also responded quantitatively: “100%.”

“We persist in trying to figure it out in the dressing room,” he continued. “It's clear that the [outside] speculation will not be helpful so it is about trying to sort it out in there.”

“In my opinion the manager has been superb. I individually have a excellent relationship with him,” Bellingham stated. “After the spell of games where we tied a few, we had some very productive conversations among ourselves.”

“Every situation concludes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, possibly speaking as much about poor form as his own predicament.