Xabi Alonso Walking a Thin Tightrope at the Bernabéu Amidst Squad Support.

No attacker in Los Blancos' history had experienced without a goal for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but eventually he was released and he had a statement to broadcast, performed for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in nine months and was commencing only his fifth appearance this campaign, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the opening goal against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he spun and charged towards the bench to embrace Xabi Alonso, the manager in the spotlight for whom this could prove an even greater liberation.

“It’s a difficult period for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Performances aren’t coming off and I sought to prove people that we are together with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo spoke, the advantage had been lost, another loss following. City had turned it around, going 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso noted. That can happen when you’re in a “fragile” condition, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had fought back. This time, they could not engineer a turnaround. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played a handful of minutes all season, struck the bar in the closing stages.

A Delayed Sentence

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo admitted. The question was whether it would be enough for Alonso to keep his position. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois stated, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was felt privately. “We have shown that we’re supporting the coach: we have played well, provided 100%,” Courtois added. And so the final decision was withheld, sentencing pending, with games against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A More Credible Kind of Defeat

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second time in four days, extending their poor form to just two victories in eight, but this seemed a somewhat distinct. This was the Premier League champions, as opposed to a La Liga opponent. Simplified, they had competed with intensity, the simplest and most critical charge not aimed at them on this night. With multiple players out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a spot-kick, almost securing something at the end. There were “numerous of very good things” about this display, the head coach said, and there could be “no blame” of his players, tonight.

The Bernabéu's Mixed Response

That was not always the case. There were moments in the latter period, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had voiced its disapproval. At full time, a section of supporters had repeated that, although there was in addition sporadic clapping. But primarily, there was a muted stream to the subway. “We understand that, we understand it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso added: “This is nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were times when they applauded too.”

Squad Backing Remains Strong

“I feel the backing of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he backed them, they backed him too, at least towards the public. There has been a rapprochement, discussions: the coach had listened to them, arguably more than they had accommodated him, reaching common ground not exactly in the center.

Whether durable a solution that is continues to be an unresolved issue. One small exchange in the post-match press conference felt telling. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to stick to his principles, Alonso had permitted that notion to hang there, replying: “I have a good relationship with Pep, we understand each other well and he understands what he is implying.”

A Basis of Reaction

Crucially though, he could be satisfied that there was a spirit, a response. Madrid’s players had not given up during the game and after it they stood up for him. Part of it may have been for show, done out of duty or self-preservation, but in this tense environment, it was significant. The intensity with which they played had been as well – even if there is a risk of the most basic of requirements somehow being framed as a type of positive.

The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a strategy, that their mistakes were not his responsibility. “In my view my teammate Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The sole solution is [for] the players to alter the attitude. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have witnessed a change.”

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

“We are continuing striving to solve it in the dressing room,” he continued. “It's clear that the [outside] noise will not be productive so it is about attempting to fix it in there.”

“I think the gaffer has been superb. I myself have a excellent rapport with him,” Bellingham added. “Following the run of games where we were held a few, we had some very productive conversations among ourselves.”

“Everything ends in the end,” Alonso mused, maybe speaking as much about adversity as anything else.