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

No attacker in the club's annals had endured without a goal for as long as Rodrygo, but at last he was freed and he had a declaration to broadcast, acted out for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in almost a year and was commencing only his fifth match this term, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the opening goal against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he turned and sprinted towards the touchline to hug Xabi Alonso, the coach under pressure for whom this could prove an profound relief.

“It’s a difficult period for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Results aren’t coming off and I wanted to show people that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the advantage had been taken from them, a setback ensuing. City had turned it around, going 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso noted. That can happen when you’re in a “delicate” state, he added, but at least Madrid had responded. This time, they could not pull off a recovery. Endrick, brought on having played very little all season, struck the crossbar in the closing stages.

A Suspended Sentence

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo said. The question was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to keep his job. “That wasn't our perception [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, 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 coach: we have performed creditably, given 100%,” Courtois added. And so the final decision was reserved, consequences pending, with fixtures against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A Distinct Form of Loss

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second occasion in four days, continuing their recent run to two wins in eight, but this seemed a more respectable. This was Manchester City, not a La Liga opponent. Simplified, they had actually run, the most obvious and most damning criticism not levelled at them this time. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a spot-kick, almost salvaging something at the final whistle. There were “numerous of very good things” about this performance, the boss argued, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, not this time.

The Stadium's Muted Response

That was not entirely the full story. There were spells in the second half, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At the conclusion, some of supporters had repeated that, although there was likewise sporadic clapping. But mostly, there was a quiet flow to the exits. “That’s normal, we understand it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso added: “There's nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were times when they cheered too.”

Player Backing Stands Firm

“I feel the backing of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he supported them, they backed him too, at least towards the media. There has been a unification, conversations: the coach had accommodated them, maybe more than they had adapted to him, meeting somewhere not exactly in the middle.

How lasting a remedy that is continues to be an matter of debate. One seemingly minor exchange in the after-game press conference felt significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s suggestion to stick to his principles, Alonso had let that idea to hang there, answering: “I have a good connection with Pep, we understand each other well and he knows what he is saying.”

A Starting Point of Fight

Crucially though, he could be satisfied that there was a resistance, a response. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they defended him. This support may have been theatrical, done out of obligation or self-interest, but in this tense environment, it was meaningful. The commitment with which they played had been too – even if there is a danger of the most fundamental of expectations somehow being framed as a type of achievement.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a vision, that their shortcomings were not his responsibility. “I think my teammate Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The sole solution is [for] the players to alter the approach. The attitude is the crucial element and today we have seen a shift.”

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

“We’re still striving to work it out in the locker room,” he continued. “We know that the [outside] speculation will not be helpful so it is about trying to resolve it in there.”

“I think the gaffer has been superb. I personally have a great rapport with him,” Bellingham added. “After the run of games where we drew a few, we had some very productive conversations among ourselves.”

“Every situation ends in the end,” Alonso mused, possibly talking as much about adversity as his own predicament.