Alonso Navigating a Thin Tightrope at Real Madrid Even With Dressing Room Backing.

No attacker in the club's annals had experienced scoreless for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but at last he was released and he had a declaration to broadcast, executed for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in almost a year and was beginning only his fifth match this season, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the advantage against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he wheeled and ran towards the touchline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the coach in the spotlight for whom this could signal an profound release.

“It’s a difficult moment for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Things aren’t coming off and I wanted to demonstrate people that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the lead had been surrendered, a setback ensuing. City had reversed the score, going 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso remarked. That can transpire when you’re in a “delicate” condition, he added, but at least Madrid had reacted. This time, they could not complete a turnaround. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played very little all season, rattled the bar in the closing stages.

A Reserved Judgment

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo said. The dilemma was whether it would be adequate for Alonso to hold onto his job. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois insisted, but that was how it had been portrayed in the media, and how it was perceived internally. “We demonstrated that we’re behind the manager: we have performed creditably, given 100%,” Courtois added. And so the axe was postponed, sentencing pending, with games against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A More Credible Type of Defeat

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second match in four days, perpetuating their uninspiring streak to just two victories in eight, but this was a more respectable. This was the Premier League champions, not a lesser opponent. Stripped down, they had actually run, the most obvious and most damning accusation 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, nearly salvaging something at the final whistle. There were “numerous of very good things” about this performance, the manager argued, and there could be “no blame” of his players, on this occasion.

The Fans' Mixed Response

That was not always the complete picture. There were spells in the closing 45 minutes, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At full time, some of supporters had done so again, although there was likewise sporadic clapping. But primarily, there was a subdued stream to the doors. “We understand that, we understand it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso remarked: “There's nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were times when they clapped too.”

Dressing Room Backing Is Evident

“I feel the confidence of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he supported them, they stood by him too, at least for the cameras. There has been a unification, talks: the coach had listened to them, perhaps more than they had adapted to him, finding a point not precisely in the center.

The longevity of a solution that is is still an unresolved issue. One little exchange in the after-game press conference felt significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to stick to his principles, Alonso had permitted that notion to linger, replying: “I share a good relationship with Pep, we know each other well and he understands what he is talking about.”

A Foundation of Fight

Crucially though, he could be satisfied that there was a fight, a response. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they defended him. This support may have been performative, done out of obligation 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 risk of the most basic of requirements somehow being promoted as a kind of success.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a vision, that their shortcomings were not his responsibility. “I think my colleague Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The key is [for] the players to change the mindset. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have seen a shift.”

Jude Bellingham, pressed if they were behind the coach, also responded with a figure: “100%.”

“We’re still attempting to work it out in the dressing room,” he continued. “We know that the [outside] speculation will not be productive so it is about striving to resolve it in there.”

“Personally, I feel the gaffer has been superb. I individually have a great connection with him,” Bellingham added. “After the run of games where we drew a few, we had some really great conversations among ourselves.”

“Everything ends in the end,” Alonso mused, possibly referring as much about a difficult spell as anything else.