Xabi Alonso Treading a Thin Tightrope at the Bernabéu Despite Dressing Room Endorsement.

No offensive player in Los Blancos' record books had gone failing to find the net for as long as Rodrygo, but eventually he was freed and he had a statement to broadcast, executed for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in nine months and was beginning only his fifth game this season, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the advantage against Manchester City. Then he spun and charged towards the bench to greet Xabi Alonso, the boss in the spotlight for whom this could represent an more significant release.

“It’s a tough time for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Performances are not going our way and I wanted to prove the public that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the lead had been lost, a setback following. City had reversed the score, taking 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso observed. That can occur when you’re in a “sensitive” state, he added, but at least Madrid had reacted. This time, they could not engineer a recovery. Endrick, brought on having played very little all season, struck the bar in the closing stages.

A Delayed Sentence

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo conceded. The question was whether it would be enough for Alonso to hold onto his position. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois stated, but that was how it had been portrayed in the media, and how it was understood behind closed doors. “Our performance proved that we’re with the coach: we have played well, offered 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so the final decision was postponed, consequences pending, with games against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A Distinct Type of Setback

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second occasion in four days, perpetuating their recent run to just two victories in eight, but this felt a somewhat distinct. This was Manchester City, rather than a lesser opponent. Stripped down, they had shown fight, the easiest and most harsh charge not directed at them this time. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a penalty, almost salvaging something at the final whistle. There were “a lot of very good things” about this performance, the head coach said, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, on this occasion.

The Fans' Mixed Reaction

That was not completely the full story. There were moments in the latter period, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the conclusion, a portion of supporters had repeated that, although there was also sporadic clapping. But mostly, there was a subdued procession to the doors. “It's to be expected, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso remarked: “It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were moments when they cheered too.”

Dressing Room Unity Remains Firm

“I feel the backing of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he stood by them, they stood by him too, at least for the public. There has been a rapprochement, conversations: the coach had considered them, arguably more than they had embraced him, meeting somewhere not exactly in the middle.

How lasting a fix that is remains an open question. One small moment in the post-match press conference felt notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to follow his own path, Alonso had allowed that idea to hang there, responding: “I have a good rapport with Pep, we understand each other well and he understands what he is talking about.”

A Foundation of Resistance

Above all 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 stood up for him. Part of it may have been for show, done out of duty or self-preservation, but in this climate, it was important. The intensity with which they played had been too – even if there is a temptation of the most basic of expectations somehow being elevated as a kind of positive.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a strategy, that their mistakes were not his doing. “I think my teammate Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The sole solution is [for] the players to alter the approach. The attitude is the key thing and today we have observed a shift.”

Jude Bellingham, asked if they were with the coach, also answered in numbers: “100%.”

“We are continuing trying to solve it in the dressing room,” he elaborated. “We understand that the [outside] speculation will not be beneficial so it is about attempting to fix it in there.”

“I think the coach has been excellent. I individually have a great rapport with him,” Bellingham concluded. “After the sequence of games where we drew a few, we had some very productive conversations among ourselves.”

“All things passes in the end,” Alonso mused, possibly talking as much about poor form as everything.