Manager Alonso Walking a Fine Tightrope at the Bernabéu Amidst Dressing Room Support.

No attacker in Real Madrid’s annals had experienced without a goal for as long as Rodrygo, but at last he was released and he had a declaration to deliver, acted out for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in nine months and was commencing only his fifth game this season, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the advantage against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he turned and charged towards the sideline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the coach on the edge for whom this could represent an more significant relief.

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

By the time Rodrygo spoke, the lead had been surrendered, a setback ensuing. City had come back, going 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso remarked. That can transpire when you’re in a “fragile” situation, he added, but at least Madrid had responded. This time, they could not complete a recovery. Endrick, brought on having played very little all season, hit the bar in the closing stages.

A Suspended Sentence

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo said. The question was whether it would be enough for Alonso to keep his job. “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 understood behind closed doors. “Our performance proved that we’re behind the coach: we have played well, given 100%,” Courtois added. And so the axe was postponed, any action pending, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A Different Kind of Setback

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second time in four days, continuing their uninspiring streak to just two victories in eight, but this was a more respectable. This was the Premier League champions, rather than a La Liga opponent. Simplified, they had actually run, the easiest and most damning charge not directed at them in this instance. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a penalty, almost earning something at the final whistle. There were “many of very good things” about this display, the boss said, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, on this occasion.

The Bernabéu's Muted Reception

That was not completely the full story. There were moments in the latter period, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At full time, a section of supporters had done so again, although there was in addition pockets of appreciation. But for the most part, there was a muted flow to the subway. “That’s normal, we accept it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso added: “There's nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were times when they clapped too.”

Player Support Remains Evident

“I have the backing of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he supported them, they backed him too, at least for the media. There has been a rapprochement, talks: the coach had listened to them, perhaps more than they had adapted to him, reaching somewhere not quite in the center.

How lasting a remedy that is remains an open question. One little exchange in the after-game press conference felt significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to stick to his principles, Alonso had allowed that implication to hang there, replying: “I have a good rapport with Pep, we understand each other well and he is aware of what he is implying.”

A Starting Point of Reaction

Most importantly though, he could be content that there was a resistance, a response. Madrid’s players had not abandoned their coach during the game and after it they defended him. This support may have been performative, done out of duty or self-interest, but in this tense environment, it was significant. The effort with which they played had been as well – even if there is a risk of the most basic of standards somehow being promoted as a form of achievement.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a strategy, that their failings were not his responsibility. “I believe my teammate Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The sole solution is [for] the players to improve the approach. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have seen a shift.”

Jude Bellingham, pressed if they were supporting the coach, also answered quantitatively: “100%.”

“We are continuing attempting to solve it in the locker room,” he continued. “It's clear that the [outside] noise will not be productive so it is about striving to sort it out in there.”

“Personally, I feel the manager has been superb. I personally have a excellent rapport with him,” Bellingham stated. “Following the sequence of games where we drew a few, we had some really great conversations behind the scenes.”

“Every situation concludes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, perhaps talking as much about a difficult spell as anything else.