Xabi Alonso Walking a Fine Path at Madrid Amidst Player Endorsement.

No offensive player in Real Madrid’s annals had endured without a goal 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 been goalless in almost a year and was beginning only his fifth game this campaign, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the lead against Manchester City. Then he wheeled and charged towards the bench to hug Xabi Alonso, the manager under pressure for whom this could prove an even greater relief.

“This is a difficult moment for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Things aren't working out and I sought to demonstrate everyone that we are together with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the advantage had been taken from them, another loss taking its place. City had reversed the score, taking 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso remarked. That can transpire when you’re in a “delicate” condition, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had fought back. This time, they could not pull off a comeback. Endrick, on as a substitute having played a handful of minutes all season, rattled the crossbar in the final seconds.

A Delayed Verdict

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo conceded. The question was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to hold onto his position. “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 perceived internally. “We have shown that we’re with the manager: we have played well, provided 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so judgment was postponed, any action delayed, with games against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A More Credible Type of Loss

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second time in four days, extending their poor form to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this seemed a more respectable. This was the Premier League champions, rather than a lesser opponent. Stripped down, they had shown fight, the simplest and most damning accusation not levelled at them this time. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a penalty, almost earning something at the end. There were “numerous of very good things” about this display, the boss stated, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, tonight.

The Fans' Ambivalent Reception

That was not always the complete picture. There were spells in the second half, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At full time, a section of supporters had done so again, although there was in addition some applause. But primarily, there was a muted flow to the exits. “It's to be expected, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso stated: “It’s nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were instances when they clapped too.”

Player Support Is Strong

“I feel the backing of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he supported them, they supported him too, at least towards the public. There has been a coming together, conversations: the coach had accommodated them, maybe more than they had embraced him, meeting common ground not precisely in the middle.

How lasting a solution that is remains an open question. One little exchange in the post-match press conference felt significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s suggestion to do things his way, Alonso had permitted that idea to linger, answering: “I share a good relationship with Pep, we know each other well and he knows what he is saying.”

A Starting Point of Reaction

Most importantly 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 stood up for him. Some of this may have been performative, done out of obligation or self-interest, but in this climate, it was important. The intensity with which they played had been too – even if there is a danger of the most elementary of requirements somehow being elevated as a form of success.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a vision, that their failings were not his fault. “In my view my teammate Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The key is [for] the players to improve the attitude. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have witnessed a change.”

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

“We are continuing attempting to solve it in the changing room,” he said. “We know that the [outside] speculation will not be helpful so it is about attempting to resolve it in there.”

“I think the manager has been superb. I personally have a strong rapport with him,” Bellingham stated. “Following the sequence of games where we tied a few, we had some honest conversations internally.”

“All things ends in the end,” Alonso mused, possibly talking as much about adversity as anything else.