Alonso Walking a Precarious Tightrope at the Bernabéu Despite Squad Backing.

No forward in Los Blancos' annals had endured scoreless for as long as Rodrygo, but at last he was unleashed and he had a declaration to send, performed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had not scored in nine months and was commencing only his fifth game this campaign, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to secure the advantage against the English champions. Then he wheeled and sprinted towards the sideline to greet Xabi Alonso, the boss on the edge for whom this could prove an profound liberation.

“It’s a tough period for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Performances aren’t coming off and I wanted to prove the public that we are together with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the advantage had been lost, a defeat following. City had reversed the score, taking 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso observed. That can transpire when you’re in a “fragile” state, he added, but at least Madrid had reacted. Ultimately, they could not complete a recovery. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played very little all season, rattled the woodwork in the final seconds.

A Suspended Judgment

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo said. The dilemma was whether it would be enough for Alonso to retain his position. “We didn’t feel that [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 behind the manager: we have performed creditably, given 100%,” Courtois added. And so the axe was withheld, any action suspended, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A Different Type of Loss

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second match in four days, continuing their poor form to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this seemed a little different. This was a European powerhouse, not a La Liga opponent. Streamlined, they had competed with intensity, the simplest and most critical charge not directed at them in this instance. With multiple players out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a penalty, coming close to securing something at the end. There were “many of very good things” about this showing, the head coach argued, and there could be “no blame” of his players, tonight.

The Fans' Muted Reception

That was not completely the case. There were periods in the second half, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the final whistle, a portion of supporters had done so again, although there was in addition some applause. But mostly, there was a subdued stream to the subway. “That’s normal, we accept it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso remarked: “There's nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were times when they applauded too.”

Player Unity Stands Evident

“I sense the confidence of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he supported them, they backed him too, at least towards the cameras. There has been a rapprochement, conversations: the coach had listened to them, perhaps more than they had embraced him, finding somewhere not precisely in the center.

How lasting a solution that is is still an matter of debate. One little moment in the after-game press conference felt telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to follow his own path, Alonso had let that idea to remain unanswered, replying: “I have a good relationship with Pep, we understand each other well and he is aware of what he is saying.”

A Basis of Fight

Most importantly 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 publicly backed him. This support may have been for show, done out of duty or mutual survival, but in this tense environment, it was significant. The commitment with which they played had been as well – even if there is a risk of the most elementary of requirements somehow being elevated as a form of achievement.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a vision, that their shortcomings were not his doing. “I think my teammate Aurélien said it 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 witnessed a change.”

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

“We persist in striving to solve it in the changing room,” he continued. “We understand that the [outside] chatter will not be productive so it is about trying to resolve it in there.”

“Personally, I feel the gaffer has been superb. I personally have a strong relationship with him,” Bellingham stated. “Following the spell of games where we tied a few, we had some really great conversations among ourselves.”

“Every situation passes in the end,” Alonso mused, possibly speaking as much about a difficult spell as his own predicament.