Xabi Alonso Treading a Thin Tightrope at Madrid Amidst Dressing Room Endorsement.

No attacker in Los Blancos' record books had gone scoreless for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but at last he was freed and he had a statement to deliver, acted out for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in an extended drought and was starting only his fifth appearance this season, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the lead against the English champions. Then he wheeled and ran towards the sideline to greet Xabi Alonso, the boss on the edge for whom this could represent an more significant release.

“This is a tough time for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Performances aren’t coming off and I wanted to prove the public that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the advantage had been surrendered, another loss ensuing. City had reversed the score, going 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso noted. That can transpire when you’re in a “delicate” condition, he continued, but at least Madrid had fought back. Ultimately, they could not engineer a comeback. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played 11 minutes all season, struck the crossbar in the final seconds.

A Delayed Judgment

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo conceded. The issue was whether it would be enough for Alonso to keep his position. “That wasn't our perception [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been portrayed in the media, and how it was felt privately. “We have shown that we’re supporting the manager: we have performed creditably, given 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so the final decision was postponed, sentencing delayed, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A More Credible Form of Setback

Madrid had been defeated at home for the second occasion in four days, perpetuating their poor form to two wins in eight, but this felt a little different. This was the Premier League champions, not a La Liga opponent. Streamlined, they had shown fight, the most obvious and most critical charge not aimed at them this time. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a penalty, nearly securing something at the final whistle. There were “numerous of very good things” about this performance, the head coach stated, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, tonight.

The Fans' Mixed Reaction

That was not entirely the full story. There were spells in the latter period, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At full time, some of supporters had done so again, although there was likewise sporadic clapping. But for the most part, there was a subdued flow to the doors. “It's to be expected, we accept it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso stated: “There's nothing that doesn't occur before. And there were moments when they clapped too.”

Squad Backing Remains Firm

“I have the confidence of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he stood by them, they backed him too, at least for the public. There has been a unification, conversations: the coach had accommodated them, perhaps more than they had embraced him, meeting a point not quite in the center.

Whether durable a solution that is remains an open question. One little exchange in the post-match press conference seemed significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to follow his own path, Alonso had allowed that implication to linger, answering: “I have a good connection with Pep, we know each other well and he is aware of what he is talking about.”

A Foundation of Resistance

Above all 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 publicly backed him. This support may have been theatrical, done out of duty or mutual survival, but in this tense environment, it was important. The effort with which they played had been too – even if there is a temptation of the most elementary of standards somehow being framed as a kind of achievement.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a vision, that their shortcomings were not his doing. “In my view 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 approach. The attitude is the key thing and today we have witnessed a difference.”

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

“We are continuing striving to solve it in the changing room,” he said. “It's clear that the [outside] chatter will not be helpful so it is about striving to resolve it in there.”

“I think the manager has been great. I myself have a excellent rapport with him,” Bellingham stated. “Following the spell of games where we were held a few, we had some really great conversations behind the scenes.”

“Every situation passes in the end,” Alonso mused, maybe referring as much about a difficult spell as anything else.