Manager Alonso Treading a Thin Tightrope at Madrid Amidst Squad Backing.

No forward in the club's annals had endured scoreless for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but eventually he was unleashed and he had a message to send, acted out for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in almost a year and was beginning only his fifth game this term, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the lead against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he spun and ran towards the touchline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the manager in the spotlight for whom this could signal an even greater relief.

“It’s a tough time for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Things are not going our way and I sought to prove the public that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the advantage had been surrendered, another loss taking its place. City had come back, going 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso observed. That can transpire when you’re in a “fragile” condition, he added, but at least Madrid had fought back. On this occasion, they could not engineer a recovery. Endrick, on as a substitute having played 11 minutes all season, rattled the bar in the final seconds.

A Suspended Judgment

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo conceded. The dilemma was whether it would be enough for Alonso to keep his job. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois stated, 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 manager: we have given a good account, offered 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so the final decision was withheld, any action pending, with games against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.

A Distinct Type of Defeat

Madrid had been defeated at home for the second match in four days, continuing their uninspiring streak to just two victories in eight, but this felt a more respectable. This was a European powerhouse, not a La Liga opponent. Stripped down, they had shown fight, the easiest and most critical charge not levelled at them in this instance. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a penalty, nearly salvaging something at the end. There were “numerous of very good things” about this performance, the manager said, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, on this occasion.

The Fans' Ambivalent Reaction

That was not completely the full story. There were spells in the latter period, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the final whistle, a section of supporters had continued, although there was likewise sporadic clapping. But primarily, there was a muted stream to the exits. “We understand that, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso added: “It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were moments when they clapped too.”

Squad Backing Is Firm

“I feel the support of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he supported them, they backed him too, at least for the cameras. There has been a coming together, discussions: the coach had considered them, arguably more than they had embraced him, meeting a point not exactly in the center.

How lasting a solution that is continues to be an open question. One little exchange in the post-match press conference seemed significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to do things his way, Alonso had allowed that idea to hang there, replying: “I share a good connection with Pep, we understand each other well and he is aware of what he is implying.”

A Foundation of Reaction

Above all though, he could be pleased that there was a spirit, a response. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they stood up for him. This support may have been theatrical, done out of duty or mutual survival, but in this tense environment, it was significant. The effort with which they played had been as well – even if there is a danger of the most basic of requirements somehow being promoted as a kind of positive.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had stated firmly the coach had a strategy, that their mistakes were not his responsibility. “I think my teammate Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The key is [for] the players to improve the attitude. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have observed a difference.”

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

“We are continuing trying to solve it in the locker room,” he said. “We know that the [outside] speculation will not be productive so it is about striving to resolve it in there.”

“Personally, I feel the manager has been great. I personally have a excellent rapport with him,” Bellingham stated. “After the sequence of games where we were held a few, we had some honest conversations among ourselves.”

“All things concludes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, perhaps speaking as much about poor form as anything else.