Alonso Walking a Fine Tightrope at Madrid Amidst Dressing Room Endorsement.

No attacker in Los Blancos' annals had endured failing to find the net 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 starting only his fifth game this term, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the opening goal against Manchester City. Then he turned and ran towards the touchline to hug Xabi Alonso, the coach under pressure for whom this could signal an profound liberation.

“It’s a challenging time for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Results aren't working out and I aimed to show everyone that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the lead had been surrendered, a setback following. City had turned it around, taking 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso noted. That can transpire when you’re in a “delicate” situation, he added, but at least Madrid had reacted. This time, they could not complete a turnaround. Endrick, on as a substitute having played a handful of minutes all season, rattled the woodwork in the closing stages.

A Suspended Sentence

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo admitted. The dilemma was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to keep his job. “That wasn't our perception [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois insisted, but that was how it had been presented externally, and how it was felt privately. “We demonstrated that we’re behind the coach: we have played well, provided 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so judgment was withheld, sentencing suspended, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A Different Kind of Defeat

Madrid had been defeated at home for the second time in four days, continuing their poor form to two wins in eight, but this seemed a somewhat distinct. This was the Premier League champions, rather than a La Liga opponent. Simplified, they had shown fight, the easiest and most harsh 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 earning something at the end. There were “a lot of very good things” about this performance, the manager stated, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, on this occasion.

The Fans' Mixed Reaction

That was not always the case. There were moments in the second half, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At the final whistle, a section of supporters had repeated that, although there was in addition sporadic clapping. But mostly, there was a subdued flow to the doors. “That’s normal, we accept it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso added: “This is nothing that doesn't occur before. And there were instances when they clapped too.”

Squad Backing Stands Strong

“I have the support of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he supported them, they supported him too, at least in front of the public. There has been a coming together, conversations: the coach had listened to them, arguably more than they had accommodated him, finding common ground not precisely in the center.

The longevity of a fix that is continues to be an open question. One small moment in the after-game press conference seemed significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to follow his own path, Alonso had let that implication to remain unanswered, replying: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we know each other well and he knows what he is implying.”

A Foundation of Fight

Above all though, he could be pleased that there was a resistance, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not abandoned their coach during the game and after it they publicly backed him. This support may have been for show, done out of professionalism or self-interest, but in this context, it was important. The intensity with which they played had been too – even if there is a temptation of the most elementary of standards somehow being promoted as a type of achievement.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a strategy, that their shortcomings were not his fault. “I think my teammate Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The only way is [for] the players to improve the mindset. The attitude is the key thing and today we have seen a difference.”

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

“We are continuing striving to figure it out in the dressing room,” he said. “We understand that the [outside] noise will not be helpful so it is about trying to fix it in there.”

“I think the manager has been great. I myself have a strong connection with him,” Bellingham added. “Following the spell of games where we tied a few, we had some honest conversations among ourselves.”

“All things ends in the end,” Alonso concluded, maybe talking as much about poor form as his own predicament.