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“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” the Real Madrid coach declared, maybe protesting a tad forcefully. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he added on the morning before the English champions return to the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest instalment of a frequent heavyweight clash. “I’m looking forward to what’s coming and that starts tomorrow, [an opportunity] to turn round the anger. In our heads, there’s only City. In football, for better or worse, things change quickly”. Losing and things could alter for good, and permanently: this opportunity is an imperative, too.

Emergency Discussions After Desperate Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was far from the only one. Into the early hours, urgent meetings persisted, the club’s leadership drawing their own conclusions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their assessments were not the same and while radical changes remain on hold, patience is finite, the names of candidates already in the public domain. “These are scenarios you must deal with, yet my mind is fixed only on the game, on what I can influence,” Alonso stated in the press conference

“Certainly the trainer devised an effective approach, but when it comes down to it, the players execute on the field,” the French midfielder said. “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 may prove to be his farewell at a club where a turmoil is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even sharing points is insufficient, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed evolved rapidly, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Presented as a structured planner, precisely the required remedy after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was a cultural shock at a players’ club.

When Madrid secured victory against Barcelona in late October, they established a five-point lead at the top. They had won 12 of 13 competitive games, although the loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, reportedly threatening to leave 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 Coming to Light

Behind the scenes, the assessment was obvious: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Asked here if he would repeat that decision, Alonso replied: “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.” Strains had been laid bare, a disconnect between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A common complaint began to slip out about all the orders, the videos, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, beginning a run of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they beat Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those tied with Rayo, Elche and Girona. Belatedly, talks were held to mend divisions or at least paper over the issues, to establish peace. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some compromise had been found; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. A thawing of relations was displayed when Vinícius hugged the manager as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. Four days later, though, Celta defeated them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is public knowledge that Alonso’s future is on the line is as notable as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be disputed, but it is intentional. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and unfairness, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were terrible against Celta: no identity, poor commitment, no structure.

The Coach: The Simplest Fix

But the most vulnerable point, 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 bring it back to the match, which he did with virtually all his replies. The most concise reply he gave might have been the most telling, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the entire team 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 know the culture of Real Madrid pretty well; that is why it is the biggest club in the world. You have to adapt, learn a lot, interact with the players. Some days are good, some not so good. We have to face that with energy and positivity, that is the only way to turn things around.”

It was when he was asked if he felt by himself that Alonso talked of a collective, a club, that goes together, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it 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.”