Manager Alonso Navigating a Thin Tightrope at Real Madrid Amidst Squad Backing.

No forward in Real Madrid’s annals had endured without a goal for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but at last he was freed and he had a message to send, acted out for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in almost a year and was beginning only his fifth appearance this campaign, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to secure the advantage against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he wheeled and sprinted towards the sideline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the coach under pressure for whom this could prove an more significant liberation.

“This is a tough period for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Results aren't working out and I wanted to prove everyone that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the advantage had been taken from them, a defeat taking its place. City had turned it around, taking 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso remarked. That can happen when you’re in a “fragile” situation, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had fought back. On this occasion, they could not pull off a comeback. Endrick, brought on having played 11 minutes all season, hit the crossbar in the closing stages.

A Delayed Verdict

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo said. The question was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to retain his role. “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 felt privately. “We demonstrated that we’re supporting the manager: we have given a good account, given 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so judgment was reserved, consequences delayed, with fixtures against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A Distinct Kind of Defeat

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second occasion in four days, extending their recent run to two wins in eight, but this seemed a more respectable. This was the Premier League champions, not a La Liga opponent. Simplified, they had competed with intensity, the simplest and most harsh charge not directed at them in this instance. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a spot-kick, nearly earning something at the end. There were “a lot of very good things” about this performance, the head coach said, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, tonight.

The Stadium's Mixed Response

That was not completely the complete picture. There were periods in the latter period, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the conclusion, some of supporters had done so again, although there was in addition some applause. But mostly, there was a quiet procession to the exits. “That’s normal, we understand it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso stated: “It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were instances when they applauded too.”

Player Unity Remains Firm

“I have the backing of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he backed them, they backed him too, at least towards the cameras. There has been a unification, discussions: the coach had listened to them, arguably more than they had embraced him, meeting a point not exactly in the center.

Whether durable a remedy that is remains an matter of debate. One seemingly minor exchange in the after-game press conference seemed notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to stick to his principles, Alonso had let that notion to remain unanswered, responding: “I have a good connection with Pep, we know each other well and he is aware of what he is talking about.”

A Foundation of Resistance

Most importantly 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. Some of this may have been theatrical, done out of professionalism or self-interest, but in this tense environment, it was important. The intensity with which they played had been too – even if there is a temptation of the most fundamental of expectations somehow being framed as a form of success.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a plan, that their mistakes were not his fault. “I believe my teammate Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The only way is [for] the players to change the attitude. The attitude is the key thing and today we have seen a difference.”

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

“We’re still attempting to figure it out in the changing room,” he continued. “We know that the [outside] noise will not be beneficial so it is about striving to sort it out in there.”

“I think the coach has been excellent. I myself have a great relationship with him,” Bellingham concluded. “Following the sequence of games where we tied a few, we had some really great conversations internally.”

“Every situation passes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, possibly talking as much about poor form as everything.