Manager Alonso Navigating a Precarious Tightrope at Madrid Despite Squad Support.

No forward in Los Blancos' annals had experienced failing to find the net for as long as Rodrygo, but at last he was freed and he had a statement to deliver, acted out for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in nine months and was starting only his fifth appearance this term, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the advantage against the English champions. Then he spun and ran towards the touchline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the boss under pressure for whom this could represent an more significant release.

“It’s a difficult time for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Things aren't working out and I sought to prove the public that we are together with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the lead had been lost, another loss following. City had come back, going 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso remarked. That can transpire when you’re in a “fragile” situation, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had responded. Ultimately, they could not pull off a comeback. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played a handful of minutes all season, struck the bar in the closing stages.

A Delayed Sentence

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo said. The question was whether it would be enough for Alonso to hold onto his position. “That wasn't our perception [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois stated, but that was how it had been portrayed in the media, and how it was perceived internally. “Our performance proved that we’re with the coach: we have given a good account, provided 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so judgment was withheld, any action pending, with games against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A Different Kind of Loss

Madrid had been defeated at home for the second occasion in four days, extending their recent run to just two victories in eight, but this seemed a little different. This was the Premier League champions, not a lesser opponent. Simplified, they had actually run, the most obvious and most harsh charge not aimed at them in this instance. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a converted penalty, almost securing something at the end. There were “many of very good things” about this performance, the manager argued, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, tonight.

The Bernabéu's Mixed Reaction

That was not entirely the case. There were moments in the second half, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the conclusion, a section of supporters had continued, although there was in addition pockets of appreciation. But mostly, there was a subdued stream to the exits. “That’s normal, we understand it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso added: “It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were times when they cheered too.”

Squad Backing Stands Evident

“I feel the support of the players,” Alonso said. And if he supported them, they backed him too, at least towards the public. There has been a rapprochement, talks: the coach had considered them, arguably more than they had accommodated him, reaching common ground not quite in the middle.

How lasting a solution that is continues to be an open question. One small exchange in the post-match press conference seemed notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to do things his way, Alonso had permitted that implication to hang there, replying: “I have a good connection with Pep, we understand each other well and he understands what he is saying.”

A Foundation of Reaction

Most importantly though, he could be pleased that there was a fight, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they stood up for him. Some of this may have been performative, done out of professionalism or mutual survival, but in this context, it was important. The commitment with which they played had been as well – even if there is a danger of the most elementary of expectations somehow being elevated as a form of positive.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a vision, that their failings were not his responsibility. “I believe my teammate Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The sole solution is [for] the players to improve the mindset. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have seen a difference.”

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

“We persist in trying to solve it in the changing room,” he said. “It's clear that the [outside] noise will not be helpful so it is about trying to sort it out in there.”

“In my opinion the manager has been excellent. I individually have a great relationship with him,” Bellingham concluded. “After the sequence of games where we were held a few, we had some honest conversations among ourselves.”

“Every situation ends in the end,” Alonso philosophized, perhaps referring as much about adversity as anything else.