Manager Alonso Navigating a Thin Line at Madrid Despite Dressing Room Backing.

No attacker in the club's annals had experienced scoreless for as long as Rodrygo, but eventually he was freed and he had a declaration to send, performed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in almost a year and was beginning only his fifth appearance this season, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to secure the opening goal against Manchester City. Then he wheeled and sprinted towards the touchline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the boss in the spotlight for whom this could represent an profound release.

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

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the lead had been surrendered, a setback following. City had come back, going 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso noted. That can happen when you’re in a “delicate” condition, he added, but at least Madrid had reacted. Ultimately, they could not complete a turnaround. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played very little all season, hit the bar in the closing stages.

A Delayed Sentence

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo said. The dilemma was whether it would be enough for Alonso to hold onto 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 presented externally, and how it was felt privately. “We have shown that we’re with the coach: we have played well, offered 100%,” Courtois added. And so the axe was withheld, sentencing delayed, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A Different Kind of Setback

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second time in four days, extending their poor form to just two victories in eight, but this was a little different. This was a European powerhouse, rather than a lesser opponent. Simplified, they had shown fight, the easiest and most damning criticism not directed 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 earning something at the death. There were “many of very good things” about this display, the head coach said, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, on this occasion.

The Stadium's Muted Reaction

That was not completely the complete picture. There were periods in the latter period, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had voiced its disapproval. At the final whistle, some of supporters had repeated that, although there was likewise sporadic clapping. But for the most part, there was a muted flow to the doors. “That’s normal, we accept it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso stated: “There's nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were instances when they applauded too.”

Player Unity Remains Evident

“I feel the backing of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he supported them, they stood by him too, at least towards the cameras. There has been a rapprochement, talks: the coach had listened to them, perhaps more than they had accommodated him, meeting common ground not exactly in the compromise.

The longevity of a fix that is is still an open question. One seemingly minor incident in the after-game press conference seemed significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s suggestion to follow his own path, Alonso had permitted that idea to linger, responding: “I have a good connection with Pep, we understand each other well and he understands what he is saying.”

A Foundation of Fight

Most importantly 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 defended him. Part of it may have been theatrical, done out of professionalism or mutual survival, but in this climate, it was important. The effort with which they played had been as well – even if there is a temptation of the most elementary of standards somehow being elevated as a type of positive.

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

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

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

“I think the gaffer has been superb. I myself have a great relationship with him,” Bellingham stated. “After the sequence of games where we tied a few, we had some really great conversations among ourselves.”

“Every situation passes in the end,” Alonso concluded, maybe talking as much about poor form as anything else.