Xabi Alonso Treading a Thin Line at Real Madrid Even With Dressing Room Support.

No offensive player in the club's record books had endured without a goal for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but finally he was released and he had a declaration to send, acted out for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in an extended drought and was commencing only his fifth match this campaign, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the advantage against Manchester City. Then he spun and charged towards the sideline to hug Xabi Alonso, the manager in the spotlight for whom this could signal an profound release.

“This is a tough time for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Performances are not going our way and I wanted to demonstrate everyone that we are together with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the lead had been surrendered, a setback taking its place. City had reversed the score, going 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso observed. That can happen when you’re in a “fragile” state, he continued, but at least Madrid had reacted. On this occasion, they could not engineer a recovery. Endrick, brought on having played very little all season, rattled the woodwork in the closing stages.

A Reserved Sentence

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo conceded. The dilemma was whether it would be enough for Alonso to retain his job. “We didn't view it as [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois stated, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was felt privately. “We have shown that we’re with the manager: we have given a good account, given 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so the axe was withheld, sentencing suspended, with games against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A Different Form of Loss

Madrid had been beaten 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 a European powerhouse, as opposed to a La Liga opponent. Stripped down, they had competed with intensity, the simplest and most critical criticism not aimed at them in this instance. With multiple players out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a converted penalty, nearly earning something at the end. There were “numerous of very good things” about this performance, the boss stated, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, on this occasion.

The Fans' Ambivalent Response

That was not completely the complete picture. There were spells in the closing 45 minutes, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the final whistle, a portion of supporters had continued, although there was also sporadic clapping. But for the most part, there was a quiet procession to the doors. “That’s normal, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso added: “There's nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were moments when they clapped too.”

Dressing Room Support Is Firm

“I have the support of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he backed them, they backed him too, at least towards the cameras. There has been a unification, conversations: the coach had considered them, maybe more than they had embraced him, meeting somewhere not exactly in the middle.

How lasting a solution that is continues to be an open question. One little moment in the after-game press conference felt notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to follow his own path, Alonso had allowed that implication to remain unanswered, responding: “I share a good connection with Pep, we know each other well and he understands what he is saying.”

A Starting Point of Fight

Above all though, he could be pleased that there was a resistance, a response. Madrid’s players had not abandoned their coach during the game and after it they stood up for him. This support may have been performative, done out of duty or mutual survival, but in this tense environment, it was significant. The intensity with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a risk of the most basic of requirements somehow being elevated as a type of positive.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a strategy, 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 only way is [for] the players to change the mindset. The attitude is the key thing and today we have observed a change.”

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

“We persist in attempting to figure it out in the changing room,” he elaborated. “We know that the [outside] noise will not be productive so it is about attempting to sort it out in there.”

“I think the manager has been superb. I individually have a strong connection with him,” Bellingham concluded. “After the run of games where we were held a few, we had some very productive conversations behind the scenes.”

“Every situation passes in the end,” Alonso concluded, possibly speaking as much about a difficult spell as his own predicament.