Xabi Alonso Walking a Thin Path at Madrid Even With Dressing Room Support.

No offensive player in Los Blancos' record books had experienced without a goal for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but eventually he was freed and he had a statement to send, executed for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in nine months and was starting only his fifth appearance this campaign, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the advantage against Manchester City. Then he spun and ran towards the touchline to greet Xabi Alonso, the manager on the edge for whom this could prove an even greater release.

“This is a tough period for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Results are not going our way and I aimed to demonstrate the public that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the advantage had been surrendered, a defeat ensuing. City had come back, taking 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso remarked. That can transpire when you’re in a “fragile” state, he continued, but at least Madrid had fought back. Ultimately, they could not engineer a turnaround. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played 11 minutes all season, struck the bar in the final seconds.

A Suspended Judgment

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo admitted. The issue was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to keep his position. “We didn't view it as [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois insisted, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was understood behind closed doors. “We have shown that we’re with the coach: we have performed creditably, given 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so the axe was withheld, sentencing suspended, with fixtures against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A More Credible Kind of Setback

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second time in four days, perpetuating their recent run to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this was a little different. This was a European powerhouse, rather than a lesser opponent. Stripped down, they had actually run, the most obvious and most harsh criticism not directed at them this time. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a converted penalty, nearly salvaging something at the death. There were “a lot of very good things” about this performance, the boss argued, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, not this time.

The Stadium's Muted Reaction

That was not completely the complete picture. There were spells in the second half, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the conclusion, a portion of supporters had continued, although there was likewise sporadic clapping. But primarily, there was a subdued stream to the doors. “It's to be expected, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso added: “There's nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were times when they cheered too.”

Squad Backing Remains Strong

“I have the support of the players,” Alonso said. And if he supported them, they backed him too, at least in front of the public. There has been a coming together, conversations: the coach had accommodated them, perhaps more than they had embraced him, reaching common ground not precisely in the compromise.

How lasting a remedy that is is still an matter of debate. One little incident in the post-match press conference felt significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to follow his own path, Alonso had allowed that notion to remain unanswered, replying: “I have a good rapport with Pep, we know each other well and he understands what he is implying.”

A Basis of Fight

Most importantly though, he could be content that there was a resistance, a response. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they stood up for him. This support may have been theatrical, done out of obligation or mutual survival, but in this context, it was significant. The intensity with which they played had been too – even if there is a danger of the most fundamental of expectations somehow being framed as a form of achievement.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a plan, that their failings were not his responsibility. “In my view my colleague Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The sole solution is [for] the players to improve the attitude. The attitude is the key thing and today we have seen a difference.”

Jude Bellingham, questioned if they were with the coach, also responded in numbers: “100%.”

“We’re still trying to figure it out in the changing room,” he said. “We know that the [outside] chatter will not be productive so it is about trying to fix it in there.”

“In my opinion the coach has been great. I myself have a great connection with him,” Bellingham concluded. “Following the run of games where we tied a few, we had some honest conversations behind the scenes.”

“Every situation concludes in the end,” Alonso mused, possibly referring as much about a difficult spell as everything.