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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the manager declared, perhaps asserting a tad forcefully. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he remarked on the eve before Manchester City step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for a new meeting of a very modern classic. “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”. A defeat and things could alter for good, and definitively: this chance is an obligation, too.

Urgent Meetings After Desperate Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso said he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was not alone. Into the early hours, crisis talks carried on, the club’s board reaching their own verdicts after a single win in five league games. Their analyses were divergent and while drastic decisions are being postponed, tolerance has limits, the names of candidates already circulating. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso said here

“For sure the coach had a good plan but, in the end we, the players, are the ones on the pitch,” Aurélien Tchouaméni remarked. “A 2-0 defeat to Celta indicates an issue that lies with us, not the manager.”

A Rapid Deterioration After Initial Promise

City will be his 28th game in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a state of emergency is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even ties are unacceptable, and there’s perpetually an alternative who can coach. Things have indeed changed fast, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Hailed as a systems coach, the ideal solution after a season of laissez-faire and failure, Alonso was an anomaly 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 stormed off down the tunnel, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a statement a few days later he apologised to everyone except Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Tensions Brought to the Surface

Behind the scenes, the verdict was clear: Alonso shouldn’t have taken Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would repeat that decision, Alonso replied: “The intent behind that question eludes me. When a situation on the pitch demands a choice, I make it.” Tensions had been exposed, a separation between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The components weren't meshing as they should. A common complaint began to slip out about all the instructions, the video analysis, the extended practices. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Over a week after the clásico, Madrid were overcome at Liverpool, beginning a run of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those tied with Rayo, Elche and Girona. Eventually, talks were held to fix fault lines or at least cover cracks, to bring calm. Focus was directed at the footballers for the first time.

A Short-Lived Reconciliation

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some agreement had been established; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. A thawing of relations was orchestrated when Vinícius greeted the 44-year-old as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. Four days later, though, Celta overcame them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is public knowledge that Alonso’s future is under scrutiny is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be denied, but it is calculated. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and bad luck, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: no identity, no attitude, an absence of tactical shape.

The Coach: The Most Obvious Solution

But the simplest fix, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the on-pitch performance, 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 nearly each answer. 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 one word: “yes.”

“Managing Real Madrid doesn't involve transforming the culture; it requires fitting in,” Alonso continued. “The culture of Real Madrid is well-known to us; it's the reason for its status as the world's premier club. Adaptation, continuous learning, and player communication are key. There will be highs and lows. Meeting challenges with drive and a positive mindset is the only route to improvement.”

It was when he was asked if he felt alone that Alonso talked of a unit, a club, that goes together, and when attention was turned to the question of backing or its absence from above, he replied: “Dialogue with the leadership is ongoing, founded on trust, togetherness, and mutual respect. We are all united in this endeavor. We are psychologically prepared for any challenge: the squad is unified, certain of victory tomorrow, without a shadow of doubt. This is the Champions League. We are playing at the Bernabéu. The environment will be electric. That generates a unique dynamism, even among the players.”