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

No offensive player in the club's record books had experienced failing to find the net for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but at last he was freed and he had a message to deliver, acted out for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in nine months and was starting only his fifth match this campaign, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the advantage against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he turned and charged towards the sideline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the coach in the spotlight for whom this could signal an more significant liberation.

“It’s a challenging time for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Things aren't working out and I aimed to demonstrate everyone that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the lead had been lost, a setback ensuing. City had turned it around, taking 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso observed. That can occur when you’re in a “fragile” state, he added, but at least Madrid had reacted. On this occasion, they could not engineer a recovery. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played a handful of minutes all season, hit the woodwork in the final seconds.

A Delayed Judgment

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo said. The dilemma was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to hold onto his position. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois insisted, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was perceived internally. “Our performance proved that we’re with the manager: we have performed creditably, offered 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so the final decision was withheld, any action pending, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A Distinct Kind of Setback

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second occasion in four days, continuing their recent run to two wins in eight, but this felt a little different. This was a European powerhouse, not a lesser opponent. Simplified, they had competed with intensity, the easiest and most critical charge not directed at them this time. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a penalty, almost salvaging something at the end. There were “a lot of very good things” about this showing, the head coach said, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, not this time.

The Stadium's Ambivalent Response

That was not entirely the full story. There were periods in the latter period, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the final whistle, a portion of supporters had continued, although there was also some applause. But primarily, there was a muted procession to the exits. “We understand that, we understand it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso stated: “It’s nothing that doesn't occur before. And there were instances when they clapped too.”

Player Unity Is Strong

“I feel the confidence of the players,” Alonso said. And if he backed them, they supported him too, at least in front of the public. There has been a unification, conversations: the coach had considered them, maybe more than they had accommodated him, meeting a point not precisely in the compromise.

How lasting a remedy that is remains an unresolved issue. One seemingly minor moment in the post-match press conference seemed telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to follow his own path, Alonso had allowed that implication to remain unanswered, replying: “I share a good connection with Pep, we know each other well and he understands what he is saying.”

A Basis of Reaction

Crucially though, he could be pleased that there was a spirit, a pushback. Madrid’s players had not abandoned their coach during the game and after it they defended him. Some of this may have been theatrical, done out of professionalism or self-interest, but in this climate, it was important. The commitment with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a risk of the most basic of standards somehow being promoted as a form of positive.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a strategy, that their shortcomings were not his responsibility. “I believe my colleague Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The sole solution is [for] the players to change the attitude. The attitude is the crucial element and today we have witnessed a shift.”

Jude Bellingham, asked if they were supporting the coach, also replied quantitatively: “100%.”

“We persist in trying to solve it in the locker room,” he elaborated. “We know that the [outside] speculation will not be helpful so it is about striving to fix it in there.”

“Personally, I feel the manager has been superb. I individually have a great relationship with him,” Bellingham added. “After the run of games where we tied a few, we had some honest conversations among ourselves.”

“All things concludes in the end,” Alonso mused, perhaps speaking as much about a difficult spell as anything else.