Xabi Alonso Treading a Thin Line at the Bernabéu Despite Dressing Room Support.

No forward in Los Blancos' annals had gone failing to find the net for as long as Rodrygo, but finally he was unleashed and he had a statement to send, acted out for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in almost a year and was commencing only his fifth game this term, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to secure the opening goal against the English champions. Then he wheeled and ran towards the touchline to hug Xabi Alonso, the manager on the edge for whom this could prove an even greater release.

“It’s a difficult time for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Performances are not going our way and I wanted to show people that we are together with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the lead had been lost, a defeat following. City had turned it around, going 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso noted. That can transpire when you’re in a “sensitive” state, he continued, but at least Madrid had fought back. Ultimately, they could not complete a comeback. Endrick, on as a substitute having played 11 minutes all season, struck the woodwork in the closing stages.

A Delayed Verdict

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo conceded. The question was whether it would be adequate for Alonso to hold onto his job. “That wasn't our perception [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois stated, but that was how it had been presented externally, and how it was understood behind closed doors. “We have shown that we’re with the manager: we have given a good account, provided 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so judgment was postponed, any action pending, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A More Credible Kind of Setback

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second occasion in four days, perpetuating their uninspiring streak to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this was a little different. This was the Premier League champions, rather than a La Liga opponent. Stripped down, they had shown fight, the easiest and most damning accusation not levelled at them in this instance. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a penalty, nearly salvaging something at the death. There were “numerous of very good things” about this showing, the boss said, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, on this occasion.

The Fans' Mixed Reaction

That was not completely the full story. There were spells in the closing 45 minutes, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At full time, a portion of supporters had repeated that, although there was likewise sporadic clapping. But for the most part, there was a subdued procession to the doors. “That’s normal, we accept it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso added: “There's nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were times when they cheered too.”

Dressing Room Unity Stands Strong

“I sense the support of the players,” Alonso said. And if he supported them, they backed him too, at least towards the media. There has been a unification, discussions: the coach had accommodated them, arguably more than they had adapted to him, meeting somewhere not quite in the center.

Whether durable a solution that is is still an open question. One seemingly minor incident in the post-match press conference appeared telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to do things his way, Alonso had permitted that implication to remain unanswered, answering: “I share a good relationship with Pep, we know each other well and he is aware of what he is talking about.”

A Basis of Resistance

Crucially though, he could be satisfied that there was a spirit, a pushback. Madrid’s players had not abandoned their coach during the game and after it they publicly backed him. Some of this may have been theatrical, done out of duty or self-preservation, but in this climate, it was important. The effort with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a temptation of the most basic of requirements somehow being promoted as a form of success.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a strategy, that their failings were not his doing. “I think my colleague Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The sole solution is [for] the players to change the approach. The attitude is the crucial element and today we have witnessed a shift.”

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

“We’re still attempting to figure it out in the locker room,” he said. “We know that the [outside] noise will not be beneficial so it is about trying to resolve it in there.”

“I think the coach has been great. I personally have a excellent connection with him,” Bellingham added. “After the spell of games where we drew a few, we had some very productive conversations behind the scenes.”

“Every situation concludes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, perhaps referring as much about adversity as his own predicament.