Alonso Navigating a Thin Path at the Bernabéu Despite Squad Endorsement.

No forward in Los Blancos' history had experienced without a goal for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but at last he was unleashed and he had a statement to broadcast, executed for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had not scored in nine months and was commencing only his fifth game this term, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the opening goal against the English champions. Then he turned and sprinted towards the touchline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the boss in the spotlight for whom this could signal an more significant liberation.

“This is a challenging moment for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Results aren't working out and I wanted to demonstrate people that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the lead had been lost, a defeat ensuing. City had come back, taking 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso remarked. That can happen when you’re in a “sensitive” situation, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had responded. This time, they could not engineer a turnaround. Endrick, brought on having played 11 minutes all season, struck the crossbar in the dying moments.

A Suspended Verdict

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo said. The issue was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to hold onto his job. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois insisted, but that was how it had been portrayed in the media, and how it was felt privately. “We have shown that we’re with the coach: we have given a good account, offered 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so the final decision was postponed, any action suspended, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A More Credible Kind of Defeat

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 seemed a more respectable. This was a European powerhouse, as opposed to a domestic opponent. Streamlined, they had shown fight, the simplest and most damning accusation not aimed at them on this night. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a converted penalty, nearly earning something at the final whistle. There were “many of very good things” about this display, the manager said, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, not this time.

The Bernabéu's Mixed Response

That was not entirely the complete picture. There were periods in the latter period, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At full time, a portion of supporters had continued, although there was likewise sporadic clapping. But primarily, there was a subdued stream to the subway. “That’s normal, we understand it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso stated: “This is nothing that doesn't occur before. And there were times when they clapped too.”

Squad Unity Is Evident

“I feel the confidence of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he supported them, they stood by him too, at least for the media. There has been a coming together, conversations: the coach had considered them, maybe more than they had accommodated him, meeting somewhere not exactly in the middle.

How lasting a solution that is continues to be an open question. One seemingly minor exchange in the post-match press conference appeared significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to stick to his principles, Alonso had allowed that idea to remain unanswered, replying: “I share a good connection with Pep, we understand each other well and he is aware of what he is implying.”

A Starting Point of Resistance

Above all though, he could be pleased that there was a spirit, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they stood up for him. Part of it may have been performative, done out of professionalism or mutual survival, but in this tense environment, it was important. The commitment with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a temptation of the most elementary of expectations somehow being promoted as a type of achievement.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a strategy, that their failings were not his doing. “I think my colleague Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The key is [for] the players to change the mindset. The attitude is the crucial element and today we have seen a shift.”

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

“We’re still attempting to solve it in the changing room,” he continued. “We understand that the [outside] chatter will not be beneficial so it is about trying to fix it in there.”

“I think the manager has been excellent. I personally have a strong rapport with him,” Bellingham added. “Following the run of games where we were held a few, we had some very productive conversations among ourselves.”

“All things concludes in the end,” Alonso concluded, perhaps referring as much about a difficult spell as anything else.