Xabi Alonso Walking a Thin Tightrope at the Bernabéu Despite Dressing Room Support.

No attacker in Real Madrid’s record books had gone failing to find the net for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but finally he was freed and he had a declaration to send, executed for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in nine months and was beginning only his fifth match this campaign, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the lead against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he turned and charged towards the bench to hug Xabi Alonso, the manager under pressure for whom this could signal an even greater liberation.

“This is a tough time for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Things aren't working out and I sought to demonstrate people that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the advantage had been lost, a setback ensuing. City had come back, going 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso noted. That can transpire when you’re in a “fragile” situation, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had fought back. This time, they could not complete a recovery. Endrick, on as a substitute having played a handful of minutes all season, hit the woodwork in the closing stages.

A Suspended Judgment

“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo admitted. The question was whether it would be enough for Alonso to retain his job. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois insisted, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was felt privately. “We have shown that we’re with the manager: we have given a good account, given 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so the final decision was reserved, sentencing delayed, with fixtures against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A Distinct Form of Setback

Madrid had been defeated at home for the second occasion in four days, continuing their recent run to two wins in eight, but this felt a more respectable. This was the Premier League champions, rather than a lesser opponent. Streamlined, they had shown fight, the simplest and most harsh criticism not levelled at them in this instance. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a spot-kick, almost securing something at the death. There were “a lot of very good things” about this performance, the manager said, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, on this occasion.

The Stadium's Mixed Response

That was not completely the full story. There were moments in the second half, as irritation grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had voiced its disapproval. At full time, a portion of supporters had done so again, although there was also sporadic clapping. But mostly, there was a quiet flow to the subway. “We understand that, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso stated: “It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were times when they clapped too.”

Dressing Room Unity Is Firm

“I sense the confidence of the players,” Alonso said. And if he backed them, they supported him too, at least for the cameras. There has been a coming together, talks: the coach had listened to them, perhaps more than they had accommodated him, reaching somewhere not quite in the compromise.

Whether durable a solution that is is still an unresolved issue. One little exchange in the after-game press conference seemed significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s suggestion to stick to his principles, Alonso had allowed that notion to hang there, replying: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we know each other well and he understands what he is implying.”

A Foundation of Fight

Crucially though, he could be content that there was a spirit, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they publicly backed him. Some of this may have been for show, done out of obligation or mutual survival, but in this context, it was significant. The effort with which they played had been too – even if there is a danger of the most elementary of requirements somehow being elevated as a form of achievement.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a plan, that their mistakes were not his responsibility. “I think my colleague Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The key is [for] the players to alter the mindset. The attitude is the crucial element and today we have witnessed a difference.”

Jude Bellingham, pressed if they were with the coach, also responded with a figure: “100%.”

“We are continuing striving to work it out in the dressing room,” he elaborated. “We understand that the [outside] chatter will not be productive so it is about attempting to sort it out in there.”

“I think the coach has been excellent. I myself have a great relationship with him,” Bellingham added. “After the sequence of games where we tied a few, we had some honest conversations among ourselves.”

“All things concludes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, perhaps speaking as much about poor form as anything else.