Manager Alonso Walking a Precarious Tightrope at Madrid Despite Dressing Room Support.

No forward in Los Blancos' history had endured without a goal for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but finally he was released and he had a message to deliver, acted out for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had not scored in an extended drought and was beginning only his fifth appearance this campaign, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the opening goal against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he wheeled and sprinted towards the touchline to greet Xabi Alonso, the manager under pressure for whom this could signal an more significant relief.

“This is a challenging moment for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Things are not going our way and I sought to prove everyone that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo spoke, the advantage had been taken from them, a setback taking its place. City had turned it around, taking 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso remarked. That can happen when you’re in a “delicate” state, he added, but at least Madrid had responded. On this occasion, they could not pull off a recovery. Endrick, brought on having played 11 minutes all season, hit the bar in the final seconds.

A Suspended Judgment

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo conceded. The issue was whether it would be adequate for Alonso to keep his position. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was perceived internally. “We have shown that we’re supporting the coach: we have played well, provided 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so judgment was withheld, sentencing pending, with games against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A Distinct Type of Loss

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second occasion in four days, extending their uninspiring streak to two wins in eight, but this was a little different. This was Manchester City, rather than a domestic opponent. Streamlined, they had competed with intensity, the most obvious and most damning criticism not aimed at them in this instance. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a penalty, nearly earning something at the death. There were “numerous of very good things” about this showing, the manager argued, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, on this occasion.

The Fans' Ambivalent Reaction

That was not always the complete picture. There were periods in the closing 45 minutes, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had voiced its disapproval. At the conclusion, some of supporters had repeated that, although there was in addition sporadic clapping. But primarily, there was a muted procession to the doors. “That’s normal, we accept it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso added: “This is nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were instances when they cheered too.”

Squad Unity Is Firm

“I feel the support of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he stood by them, they supported him too, at least in front of the cameras. There has been a coming together, conversations: the coach had listened to them, arguably more than they had accommodated him, meeting a point not precisely in the middle.

Whether durable a solution that is continues to be an open question. One little moment in the post-match press conference appeared notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to stick to his principles, Alonso had allowed that implication to remain unanswered, answering: “I have a good connection with Pep, we understand each other well and he knows what he is implying.”

A Starting Point of Fight

Crucially though, he could be satisfied that there was a resistance, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they stood up for him. Part of it may have been performative, done out of professionalism or self-interest, but in this climate, it was meaningful. The intensity with which they played had been as well – even if there is a risk of the most fundamental of expectations somehow being elevated as a form of positive.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a vision, that their failings were not his doing. “I think my colleague Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The key is [for] the players to improve the mindset. The attitude is the key thing and today we have witnessed a change.”

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

“We are continuing striving to solve it in the locker room,” he said. “We know that the [outside] speculation will not be productive so it is about attempting to resolve it in there.”

“Personally, I feel the manager has been great. I myself have a great connection with him,” Bellingham stated. “After the run of games where we tied a few, we had some honest conversations internally.”

“All things concludes in the end,” Alonso concluded, possibly referring as much about poor form as everything.