Manager Alonso Navigating a Precarious Line at Real Madrid Amidst Dressing Room Backing.

No attacker in Los Blancos' record books had gone failing to find the net for as long as Rodrygo, but at last he was released and he had a message to send, executed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in nine months and was beginning only his fifth match this season, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the advantage against the English champions. Then he spun and charged towards the bench to greet Xabi Alonso, the manager under pressure for whom this could prove an more significant release.

“This is a tough period for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Results aren't working out and I wanted to prove people that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the advantage had been taken from them, a defeat following. City had reversed the score, taking 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso remarked. That can occur when you’re in a “sensitive” condition, he continued, but at least Madrid had reacted. Ultimately, they could not engineer a comeback. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played 11 minutes all season, hit the bar in the dying moments.

A Reserved Judgment

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo conceded. The issue was whether it would be enough for Alonso to hold onto his role. “That wasn't our perception [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois stated, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was perceived internally. “We demonstrated that we’re behind the coach: we have given a good account, provided 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so the final decision was postponed, sentencing delayed, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A Different Kind of Setback

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second match in four days, perpetuating their uninspiring streak to two wins in eight, but this felt a little different. This was a European powerhouse, not a La Liga opponent. Streamlined, they had actually run, the most obvious and most harsh charge not levelled at them in this instance. With multiple players out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a converted penalty, almost salvaging something at the final whistle. There were “many of very good things” about this showing, the boss said, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, not this time.

The Stadium's Ambivalent Reception

That was not entirely the case. There were periods in the latter period, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At the conclusion, a portion of supporters had repeated that, although there was likewise some applause. But for the most part, there was a subdued flow to the doors. “That’s normal, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso remarked: “There's nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were times when they applauded too.”

Dressing Room Support Stands Strong

“I have the backing of the players,” Alonso said. And if he supported them, they stood by him too, at least in front of the public. There has been a unification, talks: the coach had listened to them, arguably more than they had embraced him, meeting a point not exactly in the middle.

The longevity of a remedy that is remains an matter of debate. One seemingly minor incident in the after-game press conference seemed telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to follow his own path, Alonso had permitted that idea to linger, replying: “I have a good rapport with Pep, we understand each other well and he understands what he is implying.”

A Foundation of Resistance

Most importantly though, he could be satisfied that there was a fight, a response. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they stood up for him. Some of this may have been for show, done out of obligation or mutual survival, but in this context, it was significant. The intensity with which they played had been too – even if there is a risk of the most fundamental of standards somehow being elevated as a form of success.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a strategy, that their failings were not his responsibility. “I think my colleague Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The key is [for] the players to improve the attitude. The attitude is the crucial element and today we have witnessed a shift.”

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

“We persist in trying to solve it in the dressing room,” he said. “We understand that the [outside] noise will not be helpful so it is about striving to fix it in there.”

“In my opinion the coach has been superb. I personally have a excellent rapport with him,” Bellingham stated. “Following the run of games where we tied a few, we had some very productive conversations among ourselves.”

“Everything concludes in the end,” Alonso concluded, maybe speaking as much about adversity as his own predicament.