Manager Alonso Treading a Fine Line at the Bernabéu Even With Squad Backing.

No offensive player in Real Madrid’s history had experienced scoreless for as long as Rodrygo, but at last he was freed and he had a message to broadcast, acted out for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had not scored in an extended drought and was commencing only his fifth match this campaign, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the lead against Manchester City. Then he turned and sprinted towards the touchline to greet Xabi Alonso, the boss in the spotlight for whom this could signal an more significant relief.

“It’s a difficult moment for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Things aren't working out and I sought to prove everyone that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the lead had been lost, another loss ensuing. City had come back, taking 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso noted. That can occur when you’re in a “sensitive” condition, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had reacted. Ultimately, they could not complete a recovery. Endrick, brought on having played a handful of minutes all season, hit the crossbar in the dying moments.

A Reserved Judgment

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo said. The issue was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to retain his job. “We didn’t feel that [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 perceived internally. “We demonstrated that we’re behind the coach: we have given a good account, offered 100%,” Courtois added. And so the final decision was reserved, any action pending, with games against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A Distinct Kind of Loss

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second match in four days, continuing their recent run to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this felt a little different. This was a European powerhouse, as opposed to a lesser opponent. Streamlined, they had shown fight, the most obvious and most harsh criticism not directed at them this time. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a converted penalty, coming close to earning something at the death. There were “many of very good things” about this performance, the manager stated, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, on this occasion.

The Fans' Ambivalent Reaction

That was not entirely the case. There were spells in the latter period, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At the conclusion, a section of supporters had repeated that, although there was in addition pockets of appreciation. But mostly, there was a muted procession to the doors. “It's to be expected, we understand it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso stated: “There's nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were instances when they cheered too.”

Player Unity Stands Evident

“I have the confidence of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he backed them, they stood by him too, at least for the cameras. There has been a unification, talks: the coach had listened to them, arguably more than they had adapted to him, finding somewhere not exactly in the middle.

Whether durable a solution that is is still an unresolved issue. One little moment in the post-match press conference felt notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s suggestion to stick to his principles, Alonso had allowed that notion to hang there, replying: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we understand each other well and he knows what he is saying.”

A Foundation of Fight

Most importantly though, he could be satisfied that there was a fight, a response. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they publicly backed him. Part of it may have been theatrical, done out of duty or mutual survival, but in this context, it was significant. The effort with which they played had been as well – even if there is a danger of the most fundamental of standards somehow being promoted as a kind of positive.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a strategy, that their shortcomings were not his doing. “In my view my teammate Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The sole solution is [for] the players to alter the approach. The attitude is the key thing and today we have observed a shift.”

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

“We persist in attempting to figure it out in the locker room,” he said. “We know that the [outside] speculation will not be helpful so it is about attempting to resolve it in there.”

“In my opinion the gaffer has been great. I myself have a excellent rapport with him,” Bellingham added. “Following the run of games where we were held a few, we had some really great conversations behind the scenes.”

“All things ends in the end,” Alonso concluded, possibly talking as much about poor form as anything else.