Manager Alonso Walking a Precarious Tightrope at Madrid Despite Squad Endorsement.

No forward in Los Blancos' record books had gone scoreless for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but eventually he was freed and he had a statement to deliver, performed for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had not scored in almost a year and was starting only his fifth game this term, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the opening goal against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he turned and charged towards the bench to hug Xabi Alonso, the coach on the edge for whom this could prove an even greater liberation.

“It’s a tough period for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Things aren’t coming off and I wanted to demonstrate everyone 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 “very little”, Alonso observed. That can happen when you’re in a “sensitive” state, he continued, but at least Madrid had reacted. On this occasion, they could not complete a comeback. Endrick, brought on having played a handful of minutes all season, rattled the bar in the dying moments.

A Suspended Judgment

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo said. The issue was whether it would be enough for Alonso to hold onto his job. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois stated, but that was how it had been portrayed in the media, and how it was understood behind closed doors. “Our performance proved that we’re behind the manager: we have played well, offered 100%,” Courtois added. And so the final decision was postponed, any action suspended, with fixtures against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A More Credible Kind of Setback

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second match in four days, perpetuating their uninspiring streak to two wins in eight, but this felt a little different. This was the Premier League champions, as opposed to a domestic opponent. Simplified, they had competed with intensity, the most obvious and most critical charge not directed at them on this night. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a penalty, nearly securing something at the end. There were “a lot of very good things” about this performance, the head coach stated, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, not this time.

The Fans' Muted Reaction

That was not always the case. There were periods in the closing 45 minutes, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the final whistle, some of supporters had done so again, although there was likewise some applause. But primarily, there was a quiet stream to the subway. “It's to be expected, we accept it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso stated: “This is nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were moments when they cheered too.”

Dressing Room Support Is Evident

“I feel the backing of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he backed them, they stood by him too, at least in front of the media. There has been a rapprochement, talks: the coach had listened to them, perhaps more than they had embraced him, meeting a point not exactly in the center.

Whether durable a fix that is remains an matter of debate. One seemingly minor exchange in the after-game press conference appeared significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to follow his own path, Alonso had allowed that notion to linger, responding: “I share a good relationship with Pep, we understand each other well and he is aware of what he is implying.”

A Foundation of Fight

Above all though, he could be pleased that there was a fight, a pushback. Madrid’s players had not abandoned their coach during the game and after it they publicly backed him. This support may have been for show, done out of obligation or self-interest, but in this climate, it was important. The effort with which they played had been as well – even if there is a risk of the most fundamental of expectations somehow being framed as a type of success.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a plan, that their shortcomings were not his doing. “I think my colleague Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The key is [for] the players to improve the attitude. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have observed a change.”

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

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

“I think the manager has been excellent. I individually have a great connection with him,” Bellingham stated. “After the run of games where we drew a few, we had some really great conversations among ourselves.”

“Everything passes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, possibly referring as much about a difficult spell as anything else.