Xabi Alonso Navigating a Precarious Tightrope at Real Madrid Amidst Dressing Room Backing.

No forward in the club's record books had experienced without a goal for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but eventually he was unleashed and he had a statement to send, performed for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in almost a year and was starting only his fifth match this term, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the opening goal against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he turned and charged towards the touchline to greet Xabi Alonso, the coach under pressure for whom this could prove an profound liberation.

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

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the advantage had been lost, a setback ensuing. City had turned it around, going 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso observed. That can transpire when you’re in a “delicate” condition, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had reacted. On this occasion, they could not engineer a comeback. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played 11 minutes all season, struck the bar in the closing stages.

A Suspended Judgment

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo said. The question was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to keep his job. “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 given a good account, provided 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so judgment was postponed, any action suspended, with games against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A More Credible Form of Loss

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second match in four days, perpetuating their recent run to just two victories in eight, but this seemed a more respectable. This was a European powerhouse, as opposed to a La Liga opponent. Stripped down, they had competed with intensity, the most obvious and most critical accusation not directed at them in this instance. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a converted penalty, almost securing something at the end. There were “many of very good things” about this display, the manager argued, and there could be “no blame” of his players, on this occasion.

The Stadium's Ambivalent Response

That was not entirely the complete picture. There were periods in the closing 45 minutes, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At the final whistle, a section of supporters had done so again, although there was likewise some applause. But primarily, there was a muted procession to the doors. “We understand that, we accept it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso stated: “It’s nothing that doesn't occur before. And there were times when they applauded too.”

Dressing Room Unity Is Evident

“I feel the backing of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he backed them, they stood by him too, at least for the media. There has been a coming together, talks: the coach had listened to them, perhaps more than they had accommodated him, meeting somewhere not exactly in the middle.

Whether durable a remedy that is is still an unresolved issue. One seemingly minor incident in the post-match press conference appeared significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to follow his own path, Alonso had permitted that implication to hang there, responding: “I have a good connection with Pep, we know each other well and he knows what he is talking about.”

A Foundation of Resistance

Above all though, he could be content that there was a spirit, a response. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they publicly backed him. Some of this may have been theatrical, done out of professionalism or self-preservation, but in this climate, it was important. The effort with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a risk of the most basic of requirements somehow being elevated as a type of success.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a plan, that their shortcomings were not his doing. “I think my colleague Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The sole solution is [for] the players to improve the attitude. The attitude is the key thing and today we have observed a difference.”

Jude Bellingham, pressed if they were with the coach, also answered quantitatively: “100%.”

“We persist in trying to figure it out in the changing room,” he elaborated. “It's clear that the [outside] chatter will not be beneficial so it is about trying to fix it in there.”

“Personally, I feel the gaffer has been superb. I personally have a strong relationship with him,” Bellingham concluded. “Following the spell of games where we were held a few, we had some honest conversations among ourselves.”

“Everything ends in the end,” Alonso philosophized, possibly referring as much about a difficult spell as his own predicament.