Manager Alonso Navigating a Precarious Line at Madrid Despite Player Support.

No attacker in the club's record books had experienced without a goal for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but at last he was unleashed and he had a statement to deliver, performed for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in nine months and was commencing only his fifth match this season, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the opening goal against the English champions. Then he wheeled and sprinted towards the touchline to hug Xabi Alonso, the manager in the spotlight for whom this could represent an more significant release.

“This is a challenging time for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Results are not going our way and I sought to demonstrate everyone that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo spoke, the advantage had been lost, a defeat taking its place. City had reversed the score, taking 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso remarked. That can occur when you’re in a “sensitive” situation, he added, but at least Madrid had responded. This time, they could not engineer a turnaround. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played a handful of minutes all season, hit the bar in the final seconds.

A Delayed Judgment

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo said. The dilemma was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to retain his position. “That wasn't our perception [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 have shown that we’re behind the coach: we have performed creditably, provided 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so the final decision was postponed, consequences pending, with games against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A Distinct Kind of Defeat

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second occasion in four days, continuing their recent run to just two victories in eight, but this seemed a little different. This was Manchester City, as opposed to a lesser opponent. Streamlined, they had actually run, the most obvious and most damning accusation not levelled at them this time. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a spot-kick, almost salvaging something at the end. There were “many of very good things” about this display, the head coach stated, and there could be “no blame” of his players, on this occasion.

The Bernabéu's Ambivalent Response

That was not always the complete picture. There were moments in the latter period, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the conclusion, some of supporters had continued, although there was in addition some applause. But primarily, there was a quiet procession to the exits. “We understand that, we understand it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso added: “There's nothing that doesn't occur before. And there were instances when they applauded too.”

Player Backing Is Firm

“I have the confidence of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he stood by them, they backed him too, at least towards the cameras. There has been a coming together, discussions: the coach had accommodated them, arguably more than they had embraced him, meeting a point not exactly in the middle.

Whether durable a fix that is is still an unresolved issue. One little moment in the after-game press conference seemed notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s suggestion to follow his own path, Alonso had allowed that notion to hang there, answering: “I share a good relationship with Pep, we know each other well and he understands what he is talking about.”

A Foundation of Fight

Above all though, he could be content 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. Part of it may have been performative, done out of professionalism or self-interest, but in this climate, it was significant. The commitment with which they played had been as well – even if there is a temptation of the most elementary of requirements somehow being elevated as a type of achievement.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a plan, that their shortcomings were not his doing. “I believe my teammate Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The only way is [for] the players to improve the approach. The attitude is the crucial element and today we have observed a shift.”

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

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

“In my opinion the coach has been superb. I myself have a great relationship with him,” Bellingham stated. “Following the sequence of games where we tied a few, we had some really great conversations behind the scenes.”

“All things concludes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, possibly referring as much about adversity as anything else.