Manager Alonso Navigating a Precarious Line at the Bernabéu Despite Player Endorsement.

No forward in Real Madrid’s history had experienced scoreless for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but finally he was released and he had a message to send, performed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had not scored in almost a year and was commencing only his fifth appearance this campaign, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the lead against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he spun and charged towards the sideline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the boss on the edge for whom this could prove an more significant liberation.

“It’s a difficult time for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Results are not going our way and I aimed to prove the public that we are together with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the advantage had been surrendered, a defeat following. City had turned it around, taking 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso observed. That can transpire when you’re in a “sensitive” state, he continued, but at least Madrid had fought back. This time, they could not engineer a comeback. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played very little all season, rattled the woodwork in the closing stages.

A Suspended Judgment

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo said. The dilemma was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to hold onto his job. “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 perceived internally. “We demonstrated that we’re with the manager: we have played well, given 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so the final decision was reserved, sentencing delayed, with games against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A Distinct Form of Defeat

Madrid had been defeated at home for the second time in four days, perpetuating their uninspiring streak to just two victories in eight, but this was a more respectable. This was a European powerhouse, not a lesser opponent. Streamlined, they had shown fight, the simplest and most harsh criticism not aimed at them in this instance. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a converted penalty, coming close to salvaging something at the death. There were “many of very good things” about this display, the manager said, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, on this occasion.

The Stadium's Ambivalent Reception

That was not entirely the case. There were periods in the closing 45 minutes, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At full time, some of supporters had continued, although there was likewise pockets of appreciation. But primarily, there was a subdued stream to the subway. “It's to be expected, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso remarked: “This is nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were instances when they applauded too.”

Dressing Room Backing Is Strong

“I have the confidence of the players,” Alonso said. And if he stood by them, they stood by him too, at least for the public. There has been a rapprochement, discussions: the coach had accommodated them, maybe more than they had adapted to him, finding somewhere not quite in the middle.

The longevity of a remedy that is remains an unresolved issue. One little incident in the post-match press conference appeared notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to follow his own path, Alonso had allowed that notion to remain unanswered, replying: “I have a good connection with Pep, we know each other well and he understands what he is implying.”

A Basis of Resistance

Most importantly though, he could be content that there was a spirit, 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 performative, done out of obligation or mutual survival, but in this climate, it was meaningful. The intensity with which they played had been as well – even if there is a temptation of the most basic of expectations somehow being framed as a type of achievement.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a vision, that their mistakes were not his doing. “In my view my teammate Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The sole solution is [for] the players to change the attitude. The attitude is the crucial element and today we have witnessed a difference.”

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

“We are continuing trying to work it out in the locker room,” he elaborated. “We know that the [outside] chatter will not be productive so it is about attempting to resolve it in there.”

“I think the manager has been great. I individually have a great relationship with him,” Bellingham added. “After the spell of games where we were held a few, we had some very productive conversations internally.”

“Every situation passes in the end,” Alonso mused, maybe talking as much about a difficult spell as everything.