Manager Alonso Treading a Fine Line at Real Madrid Amidst Dressing Room Endorsement.

No offensive player in Los Blancos' history had gone without a goal for as long as Rodrygo, but eventually he was unleashed and he had a message to send, executed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in nine months and was commencing only his fifth appearance this season, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the advantage against Manchester City. Then he turned and sprinted towards the touchline to greet Xabi Alonso, the coach under pressure for whom this could prove an profound release.

“This is a difficult time for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Things aren’t coming off and I sought to prove people that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo spoke, the lead had been lost, a defeat following. City had reversed the score, going 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso noted. That can occur when you’re in a “delicate” situation, he added, but at least Madrid had responded. On this occasion, they could not engineer a comeback. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played very little all season, rattled the crossbar in the final seconds.

A Reserved Verdict

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo conceded. The dilemma was whether it would be enough for Alonso to retain his job. “We didn't view it as [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was understood behind closed doors. “Our performance proved that we’re with the manager: we have played well, offered 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so the axe was reserved, any action suspended, with fixtures against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A More Credible Form of Defeat

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second time in four days, perpetuating their uninspiring streak to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this was a somewhat distinct. This was Manchester City, not a La Liga opponent. Simplified, they had competed with intensity, the easiest and most critical charge not directed at them in this instance. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a penalty, almost salvaging something at the death. There were “a lot of very good things” about this showing, the boss said, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, not this time.

The Fans' Mixed Response

That was not completely the complete picture. There were spells in the closing 45 minutes, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At the final whistle, a portion of supporters had continued, although there was also some applause. But primarily, there was a quiet flow to the exits. “It's to be expected, we understand it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso stated: “It’s nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were times when they clapped too.”

Dressing Room Backing Is Strong

“I feel the confidence of the players,” Alonso said. And if he supported them, they supported him too, at least towards the media. There has been a unification, discussions: the coach had considered them, perhaps more than they had embraced him, reaching a point not exactly in the middle.

Whether durable a remedy that is continues to be an open question. One little moment in the post-match press conference felt telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to follow his own path, Alonso had allowed that notion to remain unanswered, replying: “I have a good rapport with Pep, we know each other well and he knows what he is talking about.”

A Starting Point of Fight

Above all though, he could be satisfied 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 obligation or mutual survival, but in this context, it was important. The intensity with which they played had been too – even if there is a risk of the most fundamental of requirements somehow being elevated as a type of positive.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a strategy, that their failings were not his fault. “I believe my teammate Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The only way is [for] the players to improve the mindset. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have observed a difference.”

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

“We persist in trying to work it out in the changing room,” he elaborated. “It's clear that the [outside] speculation will not be helpful so it is about striving to sort it out in there.”

“I think the gaffer has been great. I personally have a strong relationship with him,” Bellingham added. “After the spell of games where we tied a few, we had some very productive conversations behind the scenes.”

“Every situation passes in the end,” Alonso mused, maybe referring as much about adversity as anything else.