Manager Alonso Navigating a Thin Path at the Bernabéu Amidst Squad Backing.

No attacker in the club's annals had gone scoreless for as long as Rodrygo, but at last he was freed and he had a declaration to send, performed for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in an extended drought and was beginning only his fifth appearance this campaign, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the opening goal against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he spun and sprinted towards the sideline to greet Xabi Alonso, the manager in the spotlight for whom this could signal an even greater release.

“It’s a challenging time for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Results aren’t coming off and I sought to demonstrate people that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the lead had been lost, a defeat ensuing. City had turned it around, taking 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso remarked. That can occur when you’re in a “delicate” situation, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had reacted. Ultimately, they could not complete a turnaround. Endrick, on as a substitute having played 11 minutes all season, hit the crossbar in the closing stages.

A Reserved Verdict

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo said. The question was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to hold onto his position. “We didn't view it as [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 perceived internally. “We have shown that we’re with the manager: we have played well, provided 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so the final decision was withheld, sentencing suspended, with matches against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A More Credible Type of Setback

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second match in four days, extending their uninspiring streak to two wins in eight, but this seemed a somewhat distinct. This was a European powerhouse, not a lesser opponent. Stripped down, they had actually run, the most obvious and most damning criticism not directed at them on this night. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a converted penalty, almost securing something at the death. There were “a lot of very good things” about this performance, the boss said, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, not this time.

The Bernabéu's Mixed Reaction

That was not entirely the case. There were moments in the latter period, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At full time, a section of supporters had repeated that, although there was in addition sporadic clapping. But mostly, there was a subdued flow to the subway. “We understand that, we accept it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso remarked: “This is nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were times when they clapped too.”

Player Unity Remains Evident

“I feel the backing of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he supported them, they supported him too, at least for the cameras. There has been a unification, conversations: the coach had considered them, arguably more than they had accommodated him, finding somewhere not exactly in the center.

Whether durable a fix that is remains an matter of debate. One little exchange in the post-match press conference seemed telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s suggestion to follow his own path, Alonso had let that idea to hang there, responding: “I share a good relationship with Pep, we know each other well and he is aware of what he is talking about.”

A Starting Point of Fight

Crucially 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 stood up for him. Some of this may have been performative, done out of duty or self-interest, but in this context, it was significant. The effort with which they played had been too – even if there is a temptation of the most fundamental of requirements somehow being elevated as a type of positive.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a strategy, that their mistakes were not his fault. “I think my colleague Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The only way is [for] the players to alter the mindset. The attitude is the crucial element and today we have observed a change.”

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

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

“I think the gaffer has been superb. I myself have a great rapport with him,” Bellingham stated. “Following the spell of games where we tied a few, we had some very productive conversations behind the scenes.”

“Everything passes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, maybe talking as much about a difficult spell as anything else.