Manager Alonso Treading a Thin Tightrope at the Bernabéu Amidst Player Endorsement.

No attacker in Real Madrid’s record books had gone without a goal for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but at last he was released and he had a statement to broadcast, executed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in almost a year and was commencing only his fifth game this campaign, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the opening goal against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he spun and charged towards the sideline to greet Xabi Alonso, the boss in the spotlight for whom this could signal an more significant relief.

“It’s a difficult time for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Performances aren't working out and I sought to prove the public that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the lead had been surrendered, another loss following. City had reversed the score, taking 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso observed. That can occur when you’re in a “delicate” situation, he continued, but at least Madrid had fought back. This time, they could not engineer a turnaround. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played a handful of minutes all season, struck the crossbar in the closing stages.

A Suspended Verdict

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo said. The issue was whether it would be adequate for Alonso to hold onto his position. “We didn't view it as [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois stated, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was felt privately. “Our performance proved that we’re with the manager: we have given a good account, provided 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so the axe was reserved, sentencing suspended, with games against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A Different Form of Loss

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second match in four days, extending their recent run to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this was a more respectable. This was the Premier League champions, rather than a lesser opponent. Simplified, they had actually run, the most obvious and most critical criticism not levelled at them this time. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a spot-kick, nearly securing something at the end. There were “numerous of very good things” about this display, the boss stated, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, on this occasion.

The Fans' Mixed Response

That was not entirely the full story. There were periods in the second half, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had voiced its disapproval. At the conclusion, a portion of supporters had done so again, although there was in addition sporadic clapping. But mostly, there was a quiet flow to the exits. “That’s normal, we accept it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso stated: “It’s nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were instances when they cheered too.”

Dressing Room Support Stands Firm

“I feel the confidence of the players,” Alonso said. And if he supported them, they stood by him too, at least for the public. There has been a rapprochement, conversations: the coach had considered them, arguably more than they had embraced him, meeting somewhere not precisely in the compromise.

Whether durable a solution that is is still an unresolved issue. One seemingly minor moment in the after-game press conference appeared telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to do things his way, Alonso had let that implication to hang there, answering: “I share a good relationship with Pep, we know each other well and he knows what he is implying.”

A Starting Point of Fight

Above all though, he could be satisfied that there was a spirit, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they publicly backed him. Part of it may have been theatrical, done out of obligation or self-interest, but in this tense environment, it was meaningful. The effort with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a risk of the most basic of expectations somehow being framed as a type of positive.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a plan, that their shortcomings were not his doing. “In my view my teammate Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The key is [for] the players to alter the approach. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have observed a shift.”

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

“We’re still striving to solve it in the locker room,” he continued. “We know that the [outside] noise will not be helpful so it is about attempting to resolve it in there.”

“Personally, I feel the manager has been excellent. I individually have a great rapport with him,” Bellingham added. “After the sequence of games where we tied a few, we had some really great conversations among ourselves.”

“All things passes in the end,” Alonso concluded, maybe speaking as much about poor form as his own predicament.