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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the manager stated emphatically, maybe affirming somewhat excessively. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he added on the eve before the English champions visit once more the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest edition 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 moment is an duty, too.

Crisis Talks After Desperate Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso said he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was not alone. Long after the final whistle, urgent meetings carried on, the club’s leadership drawing their own conclusions after a mere one victory in five league games. Their assessments were not the same and while severe measures remain on hold, forbearance is running out, the names of possible successors already out. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso said here

“Certainly the trainer devised an effective approach, but when it comes down to it, the players execute on the field,” the French midfielder remarked. “If we lost 2-0 to Celta, there’s a problem that’s on us: it’s not the coach’s fault.”

A Rapid Deterioration After Initial Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a crisis is always just two losses around the corner, where even sharing points is insufficient, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed changed fast, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Sold as a tactical disciplinarian, the ideal solution after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was counter-cultural at a players’ club.

When Madrid secured victory against Barcelona in late October, they opened a five-point gap at the top. They had won 12 of 13 competitive games, although the loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also highlighted flaws. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a letter a few days later he apologised to everyone except Alonso. At the executive level, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Tensions Coming to Light

Internally, the assessment was clear: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would make the same call, Alonso answered: “The intent behind that question eludes me. When a situation on the pitch demands a choice, I make it.” Tensions had been laid bare, 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 familiar lament began to emerge about all the instructions, the film sessions, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

More than a week after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, initiating a spell of two wins in seven. Capable of a more direct style, they defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those tied with Rayo, Elche and Girona. Belatedly, talks were held to repair cracks or at least paper over the issues, to bring calm. Focus was directed at the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been gathered a day early, it seemed some agreement had been reached; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. Reconciliation was staged when Vinícius embraced the 44-year-old as he departed. A brief break followed. Four days later, though, Celta overcame them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be rebutted, but it is calculated. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about fitness issues and unfairness, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were terrible against Celta: an absence of character, no attitude, an absence of tactical shape.

The Manager: The Easiest Target

But the most vulnerable point, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the actual football, overshadowed the preparation to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to bring it back to the match, which he did with nearly each answer. 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.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” Alonso stated. “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 by himself that Alonso talked of a team, a club, that goes together, and when attention was turned to the question of backing or its absence 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.”