Alonso Treading a Fine Line at Real Madrid Amidst Player Backing.

No forward in Los Blancos' history had experienced without a goal for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but at last he was unleashed and he had a statement to broadcast, performed for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in almost a year and was starting only his fifth appearance this season, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the opening goal against the English champions. Then he turned and sprinted towards the touchline to greet Xabi Alonso, the coach in the spotlight for whom this could represent an even greater liberation.

“It’s a difficult moment for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Performances aren't working out and I sought to prove the public that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the lead had been surrendered, a setback following. City had turned it around, going 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso remarked. That can transpire when you’re in a “delicate” condition, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had fought back. This time, they could not pull off a recovery. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played a handful of minutes all season, struck the bar in the final seconds.

A Reserved Sentence

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo said. The dilemma was whether it would be enough for Alonso to retain 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 framed publicly, and how it was perceived internally. “We have shown that we’re supporting the manager: we have played well, provided 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so judgment was postponed, any action suspended, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A More Credible Kind of Defeat

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second occasion in four days, extending their recent run to two wins in eight, but this was a more respectable. This was a European powerhouse, not a lesser opponent. Streamlined, they had actually run, the most obvious and most harsh criticism not levelled at them on this night. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a penalty, almost salvaging something at the death. There were “many of very good things” about this performance, the manager stated, and there could be “no blame” of his players, tonight.

The Fans' Ambivalent Reception

That was not completely the full story. There were periods in the second half, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had voiced its disapproval. At the final whistle, a portion of supporters had repeated that, although there was in addition pockets of appreciation. But for the most part, there was a muted procession to the doors. “That’s normal, we accept it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso remarked: “It’s nothing that doesn't occur before. And there were moments when they cheered too.”

Squad Unity Stands Evident

“I have the confidence of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he backed them, they backed him too, at least for the media. There has been a unification, conversations: the coach had considered them, maybe more than they had accommodated him, reaching common ground not quite in the middle.

Whether durable a fix that is continues to be an unresolved issue. One seemingly minor exchange in the after-game press conference felt significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to follow his own path, Alonso had permitted that implication to hang there, answering: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we understand each other well and he understands what he is implying.”

A Basis of Reaction

Crucially though, he could be pleased that there was a resistance, a pushback. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they defended him. Part of it may have been for show, done out of obligation or mutual survival, but in this context, it was important. The effort with which they played had been too – even if there is a temptation of the most fundamental of requirements somehow being promoted as a form of achievement.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a plan, that their shortcomings were not his doing. “I think my teammate Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The key is [for] the players to change the approach. The attitude is the crucial element and today we have witnessed a difference.”

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

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

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

“All things ends in the end,” Alonso mused, perhaps referring as much about a difficult spell as anything else.