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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the manager stated emphatically, possibly protesting somewhat excessively. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he added on the morning before Manchester City return to the Santiago Bernabéu for another meeting 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.” A defeat and things could shift instantly, and permanently: this moment is an duty, too.

Crisis Talks After Dismal Setback

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso said he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was not alone. Late into the night, urgent meetings continued, the club’s hierarchy reaching their own verdicts after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their analyses were divergent and while radical changes are temporarily shelved, tolerance has limits, the names of possible successors already circulating. “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,” Aurélien Tchouaméni remarked. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”

A Quick Deterioration After Early Success

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a state of emergency is perpetually looming after a few setbacks, where even draws will not do, and there’s invariably another candidate who can coach. Things have indeed shifted swiftly, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Hailed as a structured planner, exactly what they needed after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was counter-cultural at a squad-centric organization.

When Madrid won the clásico in late October, they moved five points ahead at the top. They had secured twelve victories in thirteen competitive games, although the loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also highlighted flaws. Taken off after 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. From the club's leadership, rather than supporting the trainer, there was silence.

Tensions Brought to the Surface

Within the dressing room, the assessment was clear: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would do that again, Alonso replied: “I don’t know what that question is for. If I see in the moment that I have to take a decision on the pitch, I do.” Frictions had been brought to the surface, a rift between coach and some players. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The components weren't meshing as they should. A familiar lament began to emerge about all the directives, the videos, the long sessions. 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. Able to play direct, they beat Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by Rayo, Elche and Girona. Eventually, talks were held to fix fault lines or at least paper over the issues, to bring calm. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Short-Lived Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some compromise had been found; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. Rapprochement was displayed when Vinícius greeted the manager as he departed. A brief break followed. Subsequently, though, Celta beat 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 deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about injuries and unfairness, not even truly convincing himself, Madrid were terrible against Celta: an absence of character, a deficient mentality, 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 refocus on the match, which he did with virtually all his replies. The most concise reply he gave might have been the most significant, 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 added. “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 alone that Alonso talked of a collective, a club, that goes in unison, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it from above, he answered: “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.”