Alonso Navigating a Fine Line at Real Madrid Amidst Dressing Room Backing.

No attacker in Real Madrid’s annals had gone without a goal for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but finally he was freed and he had a declaration to send, executed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in almost a year and was starting only his fifth match this term, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to secure the opening goal against Manchester City. Then he wheeled and charged towards the bench to hug Xabi Alonso, the boss on the edge for whom this could represent an more significant liberation.

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

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the lead had been lost, a defeat following. City had reversed the score, going 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso observed. That can happen when you’re in a “delicate” situation, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had responded. This time, they could not engineer a comeback. Endrick, brought on having played 11 minutes all season, struck the crossbar in the final seconds.

A Delayed Verdict

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo admitted. The dilemma was whether it would be enough for Alonso to hold onto his position. “We didn't view it as [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois insisted, but that was how it had been presented externally, and how it was understood behind closed doors. “We demonstrated that we’re behind the coach: we have played well, given 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so judgment was reserved, sentencing suspended, with fixtures against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A More Credible Type of Loss

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second occasion in four days, extending their uninspiring streak to just two victories in eight, but this seemed a more respectable. This was a European powerhouse, not a lesser opponent. Streamlined, they had competed with intensity, the most obvious and most damning criticism not aimed at them on this night. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a spot-kick, coming close to securing something at the final whistle. There were “many of very good things” about this showing, the head coach argued, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, tonight.

The Bernabéu's Ambivalent Response

That was not always the case. There were moments in the latter period, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the conclusion, a section of supporters had repeated that, although there was in addition pockets of appreciation. But for the most part, there was a subdued flow to the subway. “It's to be expected, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso added: “There's nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were instances when they cheered too.”

Dressing Room Unity Remains Firm

“I have the support of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he supported them, they stood by him too, at least towards the public. There has been a unification, conversations: the coach had considered them, perhaps more than they had accommodated him, meeting common ground not precisely in the center.

Whether durable a fix that is is still an matter of debate. One small incident in the post-match press conference appeared notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to follow his own path, Alonso had permitted that notion to linger, answering: “I share a good relationship with Pep, we understand each other well and he understands what he is implying.”

A Starting Point of Resistance

Crucially though, he could be content that there was a spirit, a response. 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-preservation, but in this tense environment, it was meaningful. The intensity with which they played had been too – even if there is a temptation of the most elementary of requirements somehow being elevated as a form of success.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a vision, that their shortcomings were not his fault. “In my view my teammate Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The sole solution is [for] the players to change the attitude. The attitude is the key thing and today we have observed a shift.”

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

“We are continuing striving to figure it out in the locker room,” he said. “We know that the [outside] noise will not be productive so it is about attempting to resolve it in there.”

“I think the gaffer has been excellent. I personally have a excellent relationship with him,” Bellingham added. “After the sequence of games where we drew a few, we had some honest conversations internally.”

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