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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” Xabi Alonso declared, perhaps affirming somewhat excessively. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he remarked on the day before Manchester City step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest edition of a very modern classic. “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.” Failure and things could change immediately, and permanently: this opportunity is an obligation, too.

Urgent Meetings After Dismal Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was not alone. Long after the final whistle, emergency discussions persisted, the club’s hierarchy forming their own opinions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their analyses were not the same and while radical changes are temporarily shelved, patience is finite, the names of potential replacements already circulating. “One must confront such circumstances, but my focus is solely on the match, on elements within my power,” Alonso stated in the press conference

“Undoubtedly the manager prepared a solid strategy, but ultimately, we the footballers are the ones performing,” one of the squad's leaders stated. “A 2-0 defeat to Celta indicates an issue that lies with us, not the manager.”

A Quick Decline After Initial Success

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a turmoil is always just two losses around the corner, where even sharing points is insufficient, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed changed fast, even if the seeds of the problem were there from the start. Hailed as a structured planner, exactly what they needed after a season of laissez-faire and failure, Alonso was an anomaly at a squad-centric organization.

When Madrid won the clásico in late October, they established a five-point lead at the top. They had secured twelve victories in thirteen competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also highlighted flaws. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a statement a few days later he apologised to everyone except Alonso. Institutionally, rather than backing the coach, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Tensions Brought to the Surface

Behind the scenes, the verdict was obvious: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Asked here if he would make the same call, Alonso responded: “The intent behind that question eludes me. When a situation on the pitch demands a choice, I make it.” Strains had been brought to the surface, a disconnect between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The components weren't meshing as they should. A common complaint began to emerge about all the instructions, the film sessions, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

More than a week after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they beat Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those drew at Rayo, Elche and Girona. Belatedly, talks were held to mend divisions or at least mask the problems, to restore tranquility. 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 reached; Alonso yielding to their requests more than they did his. Rapprochement was staged when Vinícius hugged the coach as he departed. Two days off followed. Four days later, though, Celta defeated them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is public knowledge that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as notable as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be rebutted, but it is deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about fitness issues and injustice, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were awful against Celta: an absence of character, no attitude, a lack of organization.

The Gaffer: The Simplest Fix

But the most vulnerable point, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the sporting matters, dominated the buildup to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to refocus on 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 stated. “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 by himself that Alonso talked of a collective, a club, that goes in unison, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit from above, he replied: “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.”