Alonso Walking a Precarious Line at Madrid Even With Squad Backing.

No attacker in Los Blancos' history had gone scoreless for as long as Rodrygo, but at last he was released and he had a message to send, acted out for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in almost a year and was commencing only his fifth appearance this season, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the opening goal against the English champions. Then he wheeled and charged towards the touchline to hug Xabi Alonso, the coach on the edge for whom this could signal an more significant liberation.

“It’s a tough moment for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Results are not going our way and I sought to show the public that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the advantage had been surrendered, another loss taking its place. City had reversed the score, going 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso noted. That can transpire when you’re in a “sensitive” condition, he added, but at least Madrid had responded. Ultimately, they could not complete a comeback. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played very little all season, hit the crossbar in the final seconds.

A Reserved Verdict

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo conceded. The issue was whether it would be adequate for Alonso to keep his job. “We didn't view it as [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was perceived internally. “Our performance proved that we’re behind the manager: we have given a good account, offered 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so the final decision was reserved, sentencing delayed, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A More Credible Kind of Setback

Madrid had been defeated at home for the second match in four days, continuing their recent run to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this felt a somewhat distinct. This was the Premier League champions, not a domestic opponent. Simplified, they had shown fight, the easiest and most critical accusation not levelled at them this time. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a spot-kick, coming close to earning something at the death. There were “many of very good things” about this display, the head coach stated, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, on this occasion.

The Bernabéu's Mixed Response

That was not entirely the complete picture. There were periods in the second half, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At full time, a section of supporters had done so again, although there was in addition some applause. But primarily, there was a quiet flow to the exits. “It's to be expected, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso remarked: “It’s nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were moments when they cheered too.”

Squad Backing Stands Evident

“I sense the confidence of the players,” Alonso said. And if he stood by them, they supported him too, at least for the media. There has been a rapprochement, talks: the coach had accommodated them, maybe more than they had embraced him, reaching a point not exactly in the center.

The longevity of a remedy that is is still an open question. One seemingly minor incident in the after-game press conference felt telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to stick to his principles, Alonso had permitted that idea to linger, replying: “I share a good connection with Pep, we understand each other well and he knows what he is implying.”

A Foundation of Resistance

Above all though, he could be content that there was a fight, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they stood up for him. This support may have been for show, done out of professionalism or self-interest, but in this tense environment, it was important. The effort with which they played had been too – even if there is a danger of the most basic of standards somehow being promoted as a kind of success.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a vision, that their shortcomings were not his fault. “I believe my colleague Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The sole solution is [for] the players to alter the mindset. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have seen a difference.”

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

“We are continuing trying to work it out in the dressing room,” he said. “We understand that the [outside] noise will not be productive so it is about striving to fix it in there.”

“In my opinion the manager has been excellent. I personally have a excellent rapport with him,” Bellingham added. “After the spell of games where we drew a few, we had some honest conversations behind the scenes.”

“All things concludes in the end,” Alonso concluded, perhaps talking as much about poor form as everything.