Manager Alonso Treading a Thin Tightrope at the Bernabéu Amidst Squad Support.

No offensive player in Los Blancos' record books had endured without a goal for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but finally he was unleashed and he had a statement to broadcast, acted out for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had not scored in nine months and was beginning only his fifth game this term, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to secure the lead against Manchester City. Then he wheeled and ran towards the touchline to greet Xabi Alonso, the boss under pressure for whom this could represent an even greater relief.

“This is a tough period for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Things aren't working out and I wanted to demonstrate the public that we are together with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the lead had been surrendered, a defeat following. City had turned it around, going 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso observed. That can transpire when you’re in a “sensitive” condition, he continued, but at least Madrid had fought back. Ultimately, they could not engineer a comeback. Endrick, on as a substitute having played a handful of minutes all season, rattled the bar in the final seconds.

A Suspended Judgment

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo conceded. The dilemma was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to retain his role. “We didn't view it as [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been presented externally, and how it was felt privately. “Our performance proved that we’re behind the coach: we have performed creditably, provided 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so the final decision was postponed, any action delayed, with games against Alavés and Sevilla imminent.

A Different Type of Loss

Madrid had been defeated at home for the second occasion in four days, perpetuating their uninspiring streak to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this felt a somewhat distinct. This was the Premier League champions, as opposed to a lesser opponent. Simplified, they had actually run, the easiest and most damning charge not aimed at them on this night. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a penalty, nearly earning something at the end. There were “a lot of very good things” about this performance, the manager stated, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, on this occasion.

The Bernabéu's Ambivalent Reception

That was not entirely the case. There were periods in the second half, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At the final whistle, a portion of supporters had continued, although there was also pockets of appreciation. But for the most part, there was a muted flow to the subway. “We understand that, we accept it,” Rodrygo said. Alonso remarked: “This is nothing that doesn't occur before. And there were instances when they clapped too.”

Dressing Room Backing Is Firm

“I sense the backing of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he backed them, they backed him too, at least in front of the media. There has been a unification, discussions: the coach had accommodated them, perhaps more than they had accommodated him, finding common ground not quite in the compromise.

The longevity of a solution that is continues to be an open question. One little moment in the after-game press conference felt notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to stick to his principles, Alonso had let that idea to remain unanswered, replying: “I share a good relationship with Pep, we understand each other well and he knows what he is saying.”

A Foundation of Fight

Crucially though, he could be satisfied that there was a resistance, a pushback. Madrid’s players had not abandoned their coach during the game and after it they stood up for him. Part of it may have been for show, done out of obligation or self-preservation, but in this context, it was meaningful. The commitment with which they played had been too – even if there is a danger of the most basic of expectations somehow being promoted as a type of positive.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a vision, that their mistakes were not his doing. “I think my teammate Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The sole solution is [for] the players to change the approach. The attitude is the key thing and today we have seen a shift.”

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

“We persist in striving to figure it out in the locker room,” he continued. “We know that the [outside] chatter will not be productive so it is about trying to resolve it in there.”

“I think the manager has been superb. I myself have a excellent rapport with him,” Bellingham concluded. “Following the spell of games where we were held a few, we had some very productive conversations internally.”

“Everything passes in the end,” Alonso concluded, possibly referring as much about adversity as anything else.