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“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” Xabi Alonso stated emphatically, perhaps affirming somewhat excessively. “Being the manager of Real Madrid means you are always prepared,” he remarked on the day before Pep Guardiola's side step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for another meeting of a frequent heavyweight clash. “I am eager for what lies ahead, beginning tomorrow, a chance to transform the frustration. Our sole focus is City. In this sport, whether good or bad, situations evolve rapidly.” A defeat and things could change immediately, and permanently: this moment is an imperative, too.

Emergency Discussions After Desperate Setback

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was not alone. Late into the night, emergency discussions persisted, the club’s board drawing their own conclusions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their analyses were divergent and while severe measures remain on hold, forbearance is running out, the names of potential replacements already in the public domain. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso said here

“Certainly the trainer devised an effective approach, but when it comes down to it, the players execute on the field,” one of the squad's leaders remarked. “If we lost 2-0 to Celta, there’s a problem that’s on us: it’s not the coach’s fault.”

A Rapid Decline After Early Success

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a state of emergency is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even sharing points is insufficient, and there’s invariably another candidate who can coach. Things have indeed shifted swiftly, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Hailed as a tactical disciplinarian, precisely the required remedy after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was a cultural shock at a players’ club.

When Madrid triumphed in El Clásico in late October, they established a five-point lead at the top. They had won 12 of 13 competitive games, although the setback was significant: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior headed directly for the dressing room, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a missive a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than backing the coach, there was silence.

Tensions Emerging

Behind the scenes, the verdict was obvious: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Questioned on this point if he would repeat that decision, Alonso responded: “I am unsure of the purpose of that query. If, in the moment, I believe a decision is required on the field, I will make it.” Frictions had been laid bare, a rift between coach and some players. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The pieces weren’t fitting as they should. A familiar lament began to emerge about all the directives, the film sessions, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were overcome at Liverpool, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those tied with Rayo, Elche and Girona. Belatedly, talks were held to repair cracks or at least mask the problems, to establish peace. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been assembled a day early, it seemed some middle ground had been found; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. Rapprochement was displayed when Vinícius embraced the manager as he departed. Two days off followed. Four days later, though, Celta beat them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is under scrutiny is as notable as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be rebutted, but it is calculated. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about fitness issues and injustice, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: an absence of character, no attitude, no structure.

The Manager: The Most Obvious Solution

But the simplest fix, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the on-pitch performance, was the central theme to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to redirect attention to the match, which he did with virtually all his replies. The briefest response he gave might have been the most revealing, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad was behind him, Alonso replied in a single word: “yes.”

“The role of Real Madrid coach isn't to alter the culture; it is to adjust,” Alonso continued. “We understand the ethos of Real Madrid thoroughly; it's what makes it the globe's greatest club. One must adjust, absorb knowledge, engage with the squad. Certain days bring success, others less so. We must confront this with vigor and optimism; it's the sole path to reversal.”

It was when he was asked if he felt alone that Alonso talked of a unit, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit from above, he commented: “Communication [with the hierarchy] is constant, and it comes from confidence, unity and affection. We’re all together in this. We’re mentally ready to face everything that comes: the team is united, convinced that we can win tomorrow, no one has any doubts about that. It is the Champions League. We are at the Bernabéu. The atmosphere will be special. That creates a different energy, including in the players.”