Manager Alonso Treading a Thin Path at the Bernabéu Amidst Dressing Room Support.

No offensive player in the club's annals had endured scoreless for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but at last he was released and he had a statement to deliver, acted out for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in almost a year and was beginning only his fifth appearance this term, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the lead against Manchester City. Then he wheeled and charged towards the sideline to hug Xabi Alonso, the boss in the spotlight for whom this could signal an even greater relief.

“This is a tough period for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Performances aren’t coming off and I sought to demonstrate the public that we are united with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the advantage had been taken from them, another loss ensuing. City had turned it around, taking 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso remarked. That can occur when you’re in a “sensitive” state, he added, but at least Madrid had reacted. This time, they could not pull off a turnaround. Endrick, brought on having played very little all season, hit the bar in the closing stages.

A Reserved Sentence

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo admitted. The issue was whether it would be adequate for Alonso to hold onto his job. “We didn't view it as [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois insisted, but that was how it had been portrayed in the media, and how it was understood behind closed doors. “Our performance proved that we’re supporting the manager: we have performed creditably, offered 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so the final decision was withheld, consequences suspended, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A Distinct Type of Setback

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second occasion in four days, continuing their recent run to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this felt a more respectable. This was the Premier League champions, as opposed to a lesser opponent. Stripped down, they had competed with intensity, the most obvious and most damning criticism not aimed at them in this instance. With multiple players out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a spot-kick, nearly securing something at the death. There were “a lot of very good things” about this display, the head coach said, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, on this occasion.

The Stadium's Muted Response

That was not completely the complete picture. There were periods in the second half, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At the conclusion, a portion of supporters had continued, although there was likewise sporadic clapping. But mostly, there was a subdued flow to the subway. “That’s normal, we accept it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso added: “It’s nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were moments when they cheered too.”

Dressing Room Support Remains Strong

“I have the confidence of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he stood by them, they stood by him too, at least towards the cameras. There has been a unification, discussions: the coach had listened to them, arguably more than they had embraced him, reaching somewhere not quite in the compromise.

The longevity of a fix that is remains an open question. One small moment in the after-game press conference seemed telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s suggestion to follow his own path, Alonso had permitted that implication to remain unanswered, responding: “I share a good relationship with Pep, we understand each other well and he knows what he is saying.”

A Foundation of Fight

Most importantly though, he could be satisfied that there was a spirit, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they stood up for him. This support may have been for show, done out of professionalism or self-preservation, but in this context, it was important. The effort with which they played had been too – even if there is a danger of the most elementary of standards somehow being elevated as a type of positive.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a plan, that their shortcomings were not his responsibility. “In my view my colleague Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The key is [for] the players to improve the mindset. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have seen a change.”

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

“We persist in attempting to work it out in the dressing room,” he elaborated. “It's clear that the [outside] chatter will not be helpful so it is about attempting to fix it in there.”

“In my opinion the manager has been excellent. I myself have a great connection with him,” Bellingham concluded. “After the run of games where we drew a few, we had some honest conversations among ourselves.”

“All things passes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, maybe talking as much about adversity as everything.