Alonso Treading a Fine Line at Madrid Even With Dressing Room Endorsement.

No offensive player in Los Blancos' record books had gone failing to find the net for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but finally he was unleashed and he had a declaration to send, executed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had not scored in nine months and was starting only his fifth appearance this campaign, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the lead against Manchester City. Then he spun and charged towards the touchline to hug Xabi Alonso, the coach in the spotlight for whom this could prove an profound relief.

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

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, 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 elaborated, but at least Madrid had reacted. Ultimately, they could not pull off a comeback. Endrick, brought on having played very little all season, struck the bar in the final seconds.

A Delayed Sentence

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo conceded. The question was whether it would be enough for Alonso to keep his role. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was perceived internally. “We demonstrated that we’re with the manager: we have performed creditably, offered 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so the axe was reserved, consequences pending, with fixtures against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A Distinct Kind of Loss

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second occasion in four days, perpetuating their uninspiring streak to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this felt a little different. This was the Premier League champions, as opposed to a lesser opponent. Simplified, they had shown fight, the most obvious and most critical criticism not directed at them on this night. With multiple players out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a converted penalty, nearly securing something at the death. There were “many of very good things” about this performance, the boss stated, and there could be “no blame” of his players, tonight.

The Stadium's Ambivalent Reception

That was not entirely the complete picture. There were periods in the second half, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At the conclusion, some of supporters had continued, although there was also sporadic clapping. But for the most part, there was a quiet flow to the subway. “That’s normal, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso stated: “This is nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were instances when they applauded too.”

Squad Unity Stands Evident

“I have the support of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he supported them, they supported him too, at least towards the cameras. There has been a unification, conversations: the coach had listened to them, maybe more than they had accommodated him, meeting somewhere not precisely in the middle.

Whether durable a solution that is remains an open question. One little moment in the after-game press conference seemed telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s suggestion to follow his own path, Alonso had permitted that idea to hang there, answering: “I have a good rapport with Pep, we understand each other well and he understands what he is implying.”

A Basis of Resistance

Most importantly though, he could be content that there was a spirit, a pushback. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they publicly backed him. Some of this may have been performative, done out of professionalism or mutual survival, but in this climate, it was meaningful. The effort with which they played had been too – even if there is a danger of the most basic of standards somehow being promoted as a form of positive.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a vision, that their mistakes were not his doing. “I think my colleague Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The only way is [for] the players to change the mindset. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have seen a shift.”

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

“We’re still attempting to solve it in the dressing room,” he elaborated. “We understand that the [outside] speculation will not be productive so it is about attempting to resolve it in there.”

“In my opinion the manager has been superb. I myself have a excellent rapport with him,” Bellingham stated. “Following the sequence of games where we were held a few, we had some honest conversations among ourselves.”

“All things passes in the end,” Alonso mused, possibly speaking as much about a difficult spell as anything else.