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“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” the manager stated emphatically, perhaps affirming a little too much. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he continued on the day before Pep Guardiola's side return to the Santiago Bernabéu for another instalment of a contemporary rivalry. “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.” Failure and things could alter for good, and definitively: this opportunity is an duty, too.

Urgent Meetings After Poor Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was in plentiful company. Late into the night, urgent meetings carried on, the club’s leadership drawing their own conclusions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their analyses were not the same and while radical changes remain on hold, forbearance is running out, the names of potential replacements 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 commented

“Undoubtedly the manager prepared a solid strategy, but ultimately, we the footballers are the ones performing,” 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 Swift Decline After Early Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it may prove to be his farewell at a club where a crisis is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even draws will not do, and there’s perpetually an alternative who can coach. Things have indeed changed fast, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Sold as a systems coach, exactly what they needed after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was an anomaly at a players’ club.

When Madrid won the clásico in late October, they opened a five-point gap 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. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a missive a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. At the executive level, rather than backing the coach, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Strains Emerging

Internally, the assessment was clear: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Questioned on this point 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.” Strains had been laid bare, a disconnect between coach and some players. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The pieces weren’t fitting as they should. A typical grievance began to surface about all the instructions, the video analysis, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

More than a week after the clásico, Madrid were overcome at Liverpool, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those tied with Rayo, Elche and Girona. Eventually, talks were held to mend divisions or at least paper over the issues, 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 found; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. Rapprochement was displayed when Vinícius greeted the 44-year-old as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. A few days after, though, Celta overcame them and so it unravels again.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is under scrutiny is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be rebutted, but it is intentional. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about fitness issues and injustice, not even truly convincing himself, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: an absence of character, a deficient mentality, an absence of tactical shape.

The Manager: The Most Obvious Solution

But the most vulnerable point, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the sporting matters, was the central theme to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to redirect attention to the match, which he did with virtually all his replies. The most concise reply he gave might have been the most revealing, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the complete roster was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

“The role of Real Madrid coach isn't to alter the culture; it is to adjust,” Alonso continued. “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 isolated that Alonso talked of a unit, 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: “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.”