Manager Alonso Treading a Thin Path at Madrid Amidst Player Support.

No offensive player in Real Madrid’s history had endured scoreless for as long as Rodrygo, but finally he was released and he had a message to deliver, executed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in nine months and was commencing only his fifth game this campaign, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the lead against Manchester City. Then he wheeled and charged towards the sideline to greet Xabi Alonso, the boss in the spotlight for whom this could prove an more significant relief.

“This is a difficult moment for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Results are not going our way and I wanted to show people that we are together with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the advantage had been taken from them, another loss following. City had come back, taking 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso remarked. That can transpire when you’re in a “fragile” condition, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had responded. Ultimately, they could not engineer a turnaround. Endrick, brought on having played a handful of minutes all season, hit the bar in the closing stages.

A Reserved Verdict

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo conceded. The dilemma was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to hold onto his job. “We didn't view it as [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois insisted, but that was how it had been presented externally, and how it was felt privately. “We have shown that we’re behind the coach: we have played well, provided 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so the axe was withheld, sentencing delayed, with fixtures against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A Distinct Form of Loss

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second occasion in four days, perpetuating their recent run to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this felt a somewhat distinct. This was a European powerhouse, as opposed to a domestic opponent. Simplified, they had actually run, the easiest and most harsh charge not aimed at them this time. With multiple players out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a converted penalty, nearly securing something at the death. There were “many of very good things” about this display, the head coach stated, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, not this time.

The Bernabéu's Mixed Reaction

That was not entirely the complete picture. There were moments in the second half, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the final whistle, a section of supporters had repeated that, although there was also pockets of appreciation. But mostly, there was a quiet flow to the exits. “That’s normal, we understand it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso remarked: “This is nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were moments when they cheered too.”

Dressing Room Backing Remains Strong

“I have the support of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he backed them, they supported him too, at least for the cameras. There has been a unification, discussions: the coach had listened to them, arguably more than they had accommodated him, reaching a point not quite in the compromise.

How lasting a solution that is continues to be an unresolved issue. One small exchange in the post-match press conference felt notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to do things his way, Alonso had allowed that implication to remain unanswered, responding: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we know each other well and he is aware of what he is saying.”

A Starting Point of Reaction

Most importantly though, he could be content that there was a fight, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they stood up for him. Some of this may have been for show, done out of professionalism or mutual survival, but in this climate, it was meaningful. The effort with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a danger of the most elementary of requirements somehow being promoted as a type of success.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a plan, that their failings were not his responsibility. “In my view my colleague Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The sole solution is [for] the players to change the attitude. The attitude is the key thing and today we have seen a shift.”

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

“We’re still striving to solve it in the changing room,” he said. “It's clear that the [outside] noise will not be productive so it is about striving to fix it in there.”

“In my opinion the coach has been superb. I myself have a great rapport with him,” Bellingham added. “After the sequence of games where we were held a few, we had some honest conversations behind the scenes.”

“Everything concludes in the end,” Alonso mused, maybe talking as much about poor form as his own predicament.