Manager Alonso Treading a Precarious Line at the Bernabéu Despite Squad Backing.

No offensive player in Real Madrid’s annals had endured failing to find the net for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but finally he was released and he had a statement to send, performed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in an extended drought and was commencing only his fifth appearance this campaign, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the lead against the English champions. Then he spun and sprinted towards the touchline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the boss in the spotlight for whom this could prove an more significant liberation.

“It’s a challenging period for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Performances aren't working out and I wanted to demonstrate everyone that we are together with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the advantage had been lost, a defeat taking its place. City had turned it around, going 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso remarked. That can transpire when you’re in a “delicate” condition, he added, but at least Madrid had reacted. Ultimately, they could not pull off a comeback. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played very little all season, rattled the woodwork in the final seconds.

A Reserved Judgment

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo conceded. The question was whether it would be enough for Alonso to keep his job. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois insisted, but that was how it had been portrayed in the media, and how it was perceived internally. “We have shown that we’re supporting the manager: we have played well, offered 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so judgment was withheld, sentencing suspended, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A Distinct Type of Setback

Madrid had been defeated at home for the second occasion in four days, extending their poor form to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this was a more respectable. This was the Premier League champions, as opposed to a lesser opponent. Simplified, they had competed with intensity, the most obvious and most damning criticism not levelled at them on this night. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a converted penalty, almost securing something at the end. There were “numerous of very good things” about this display, the manager stated, and there could be “no blame” of his players, on this occasion.

The Fans' Muted Reception

That was not completely the complete picture. There were periods in the latter period, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At full time, a section of supporters had repeated that, although there was likewise some applause. But for the most part, there was a subdued flow to the exits. “That’s normal, we understand it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso added: “This is nothing that doesn't occur before. And there were times when they applauded too.”

Dressing Room Support Stands Firm

“I feel the backing of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he stood by them, they supported him too, at least towards the public. There has been a unification, talks: the coach had listened to them, arguably more than they had accommodated him, reaching a point not exactly in the middle.

The longevity of a solution that is remains an unresolved issue. One little incident in the after-game press conference felt telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to follow his own path, Alonso had permitted that idea to hang there, replying: “I share a good connection with Pep, we understand each other well and he knows what he is implying.”

A Foundation of Reaction

Above all though, he could be content that there was a spirit, a response. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they publicly backed him. Some of this may have been performative, done out of professionalism or self-preservation, but in this tense environment, it was important. The intensity with which they played had been as well – even if there is a temptation of the most elementary of requirements somehow being promoted as a kind of success.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a strategy, that their mistakes were not his responsibility. “I believe my colleague Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The key is [for] the players to improve the approach. The attitude is the key thing and today we have seen a difference.”

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

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

“I think the gaffer has been excellent. I personally have a excellent rapport with him,” Bellingham added. “Following the spell of games where we drew a few, we had some really great conversations internally.”

“All things passes in the end,” Alonso concluded, maybe talking as much about a difficult spell as everything.