Xabi Alonso Navigating a Thin Tightrope at Real Madrid Despite Dressing Room Backing.

No forward in Los Blancos' history had experienced scoreless for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but at last he was released and he had a declaration to broadcast, performed for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had not scored in nine months and was starting only his fifth appearance this term, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the advantage against Manchester City. Then he turned and sprinted towards the sideline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the manager in the spotlight for whom this could signal an more significant relief.

“It’s a difficult time for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Results aren't working out and I aimed to show the public that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the lead had been surrendered, a defeat following. City had turned it around, taking 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso remarked. That can occur when you’re in a “sensitive” situation, he added, but at least Madrid had fought back. This time, they could not pull off a comeback. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played a handful of minutes all season, hit the woodwork in the closing stages.

A Suspended Sentence

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo said. The issue was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to keep his job. “That wasn't our perception [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. “We demonstrated that we’re with the manager: we have given a good account, given 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so judgment was postponed, sentencing suspended, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A Different Type of Loss

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second time in four days, continuing their uninspiring streak to just two victories in eight, but this was a somewhat distinct. This was the Premier League champions, as opposed to a lesser opponent. Simplified, they had shown fight, the easiest and most damning accusation not aimed at them in this instance. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a penalty, coming close to earning something at the end. There were “a lot of very good things” about this display, the manager argued, and there could be “no blame” of his players, on this occasion.

The Stadium's Muted Response

That was not always the case. There were periods in the second half, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At the final whistle, a portion of supporters had done so again, although there was also sporadic clapping. But for the most part, there was a muted stream to the exits. “We understand that, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso stated: “There's nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were instances when they clapped too.”

Dressing Room Support Is Evident

“I sense the confidence of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he backed them, they backed him too, at least towards the public. There has been a coming together, conversations: the coach had listened to them, maybe more than they had adapted to him, meeting a point not quite in the compromise.

The longevity of a remedy that is continues to be an open question. One little exchange in the after-game press conference felt significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to follow his own path, Alonso had let that idea to linger, answering: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we know each other well and he is aware of what he is saying.”

A Starting Point of Reaction

Above all though, he could be satisfied that there was a spirit, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they publicly backed him. Part of it may have been for show, done out of obligation or self-preservation, but in this context, it was meaningful. The effort with which they played had been too – even if there is a danger of the most fundamental of standards somehow being promoted as a kind of achievement.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a strategy, that their failings were not his doing. “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 improve the approach. The attitude is the key thing and today we have seen a shift.”

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

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

“Personally, I feel the manager has been superb. I individually have a great rapport with him,” Bellingham concluded. “Following the run of games where we were held a few, we had some really great conversations among ourselves.”

“Everything concludes in the end,” Alonso concluded, maybe referring as much about adversity as his own predicament.