Manager Alonso Treading a Thin Line at Madrid Despite Dressing Room Support.

No attacker in Los Blancos' history had endured failing to find the net for as long as Rodrygo, but finally he was unleashed and he had a message to deliver, performed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had not scored in an extended drought and was commencing only his fifth appearance this campaign, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the advantage against Manchester City. Then he spun and sprinted towards the touchline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the manager in the spotlight for whom this could signal an profound liberation.

“It’s a difficult moment for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Results aren’t coming off and I sought to prove everyone that we are together with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the lead had been lost, a setback following. City had reversed the score, going 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso noted. That can occur when you’re in a “sensitive” state, he added, but at least Madrid had responded. Ultimately, they could not complete a comeback. Endrick, brought on having played a handful of minutes all season, rattled the crossbar in the dying moments.

A Reserved Sentence

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo conceded. The issue was whether it would be enough for Alonso to hold onto his role. “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 presented externally, and how it was felt privately. “Our performance proved that we’re behind the manager: we have played well, given 100%,” Courtois added. And so the final decision was postponed, any action pending, with games against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A More Credible Type of Setback

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second time in four days, continuing their poor form to two wins in eight, but this was a little different. This was the Premier League champions, as opposed to a lesser opponent. Streamlined, they had shown fight, the most obvious and most damning charge not directed at them this time. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a spot-kick, nearly securing something at the final whistle. There were “a lot of very good things” about this display, the manager said, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, tonight.

The Bernabéu's Mixed Reception

That was not completely the complete picture. There were moments in the latter period, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At full time, a portion of supporters had done so again, although there was in addition some applause. But for the most part, there was a muted flow to the exits. “That’s normal, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso stated: “This is nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were times when they cheered too.”

Player Backing Remains Firm

“I sense the confidence of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he backed them, they supported him too, at least for the cameras. There has been a rapprochement, discussions: the coach had listened to them, perhaps more than they had adapted to him, finding somewhere not quite in the middle.

The longevity of a fix that is continues to be an unresolved issue. One small incident in the post-match press conference seemed telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to stick to his principles, Alonso had allowed that notion to remain unanswered, replying: “I have a good relationship with Pep, we understand each other well and he knows what he is implying.”

A Starting Point of Resistance

Crucially though, he could be satisfied that there was a spirit, a response. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they stood up for him. This support may have been performative, done out of professionalism or self-preservation, but in this climate, it was significant. 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 achievement.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a vision, that their shortcomings were not his responsibility. “I think my teammate Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The sole solution is [for] the players to change the attitude. The attitude is the key thing and today we have seen a change.”

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

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

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

“All things concludes in the end,” Alonso mused, maybe talking as much about adversity as his own predicament.