Xabi Alonso Treading a Fine Tightrope at Real Madrid Despite Dressing Room Support.

No forward in the club's record books had gone without a goal for as long as Rodrygo, but eventually he was released and he had a message to send, executed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in nine months and was beginning only his fifth appearance this campaign, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the lead against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he turned and sprinted towards the bench to hug Xabi Alonso, the boss in the spotlight for whom this could signal an profound release.

“It’s a challenging period for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Performances aren’t coming off and I wanted to prove people that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the lead had been surrendered, a defeat taking its place. City had come back, taking 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso remarked. That can occur when you’re in a “sensitive” condition, he continued, but at least Madrid had responded. On this occasion, they could not complete a turnaround. Endrick, on as a substitute having played a handful of minutes all season, rattled the bar in the final seconds.

A Reserved Sentence

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo said. The issue was whether it would be adequate for Alonso to retain his job. “That wasn't our perception [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been portrayed in the media, and how it was perceived internally. “Our performance proved that we’re with the coach: we have given a good account, offered 100%,” Courtois added. And so the axe was postponed, sentencing pending, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A Different Kind of Loss

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second time in four days, continuing their recent run to two wins in eight, but this was a more respectable. This was Manchester City, rather than a domestic opponent. Stripped down, they had actually run, the most obvious and most damning accusation not directed at them on this night. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a spot-kick, coming close to earning something at the end. There were “many of very good things” about this showing, the head coach argued, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, tonight.

The Stadium's Mixed Reception

That was not entirely the complete picture. There were spells in the second half, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had voiced its disapproval. At the conclusion, some of supporters had continued, although there was likewise pockets of appreciation. But for the most part, there was a muted procession to the doors. “We understand that, we understand it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso added: “There's nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were instances when they clapped too.”

Dressing Room Unity Remains Firm

“I have the support of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he supported them, they supported him too, at least for the public. There has been a unification, talks: the coach had considered them, arguably more than they had embraced him, reaching somewhere not quite in the middle.

Whether durable a fix that is is still an unresolved issue. One seemingly minor moment in the after-game press conference felt notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to stick to his principles, Alonso had permitted that notion to remain unanswered, replying: “I have a good connection with Pep, we understand each other well and he knows what he is saying.”

A Foundation of Reaction

Crucially though, he could be content that there was a spirit, a pushback. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they defended him. Some of this may have been performative, done out of obligation or mutual survival, but in this context, it was meaningful. The commitment with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a risk of the most elementary of requirements somehow being framed as a form of success.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a strategy, that their shortcomings were not his responsibility. “In my view my colleague Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The key is [for] the players to alter the attitude. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have witnessed a change.”

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

“We are continuing trying to work it out in the locker room,” he elaborated. “It's clear that the [outside] speculation will not be helpful so it is about trying to fix it in there.”

“I think the manager has been superb. I personally have a excellent relationship with him,” Bellingham added. “After the run of games where we drew a few, we had some very productive conversations among ourselves.”

“Everything ends in the end,” Alonso philosophized, perhaps referring as much about adversity as everything.