Xabi Alonso Walking a Thin Path at the Bernabéu Even With Player Endorsement.

No forward in Los Blancos' history had endured failing to find the net for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but eventually he was freed and he had a statement to broadcast, executed for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in nine months and was starting only his fifth match this season, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the lead against the English champions. Then he spun and charged towards the touchline to greet Xabi Alonso, the coach under pressure for whom this could signal an profound relief.

“This is a challenging period for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Results aren't working out and I sought to show everyone that we are together with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the lead had been taken from them, a defeat taking its place. City had turned it around, taking 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso observed. That can occur when you’re in a “fragile” situation, he added, but at least Madrid had reacted. Ultimately, they could not engineer a turnaround. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played 11 minutes all season, hit the crossbar in the closing stages.

A Delayed Sentence

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo conceded. The issue was whether it would be enough for Alonso to keep his job. “We didn't view it as [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois stated, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was perceived internally. “We demonstrated that we’re supporting the coach: we have performed creditably, provided 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so the final decision was withheld, consequences suspended, with games against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A Different Form of Loss

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second match in four days, continuing their recent run to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this felt a more respectable. This was the Premier League champions, rather than a lesser opponent. Streamlined, they had actually run, the simplest and most critical criticism not directed at them in this instance. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a penalty, coming close to earning something at the end. There were “numerous of very good things” about this performance, the boss said, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, on this occasion.

The Bernabéu's Mixed Reception

That was not entirely the complete picture. There were spells in the second half, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At full time, some of supporters had repeated that, although there was also pockets of appreciation. But primarily, there was a subdued procession to the doors. “We understand that, we accept it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso added: “There's nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were moments when they cheered too.”

Dressing Room Support Remains Firm

“I sense the support of the players,” Alonso affirmed. And if he stood by them, they backed him too, at least towards the cameras. There has been a coming together, discussions: the coach had considered them, maybe more than they had accommodated him, reaching somewhere not quite in the center.

The longevity of a fix that is is still an open question. One small incident in the after-game press conference appeared significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to follow his own path, Alonso had allowed that idea to remain unanswered, replying: “I have a good rapport with Pep, we know each other well and he understands what he is talking about.”

A Foundation of Fight

Above all though, he could be satisfied that there was a fight, a response. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they publicly backed him. Part of it may have been theatrical, done out of duty or self-interest, but in this climate, it was significant. The effort with which they played had been as well – even if there is a temptation of the most fundamental of expectations somehow being framed as a type of success.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a strategy, that their mistakes were not his fault. “I believe my colleague Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The sole solution is [for] the players to alter the mindset. The attitude is the key thing and today we have witnessed a change.”

Jude Bellingham, pressed if they were supporting the coach, also responded quantitatively: “100%.”

“We persist in striving to figure it out in the locker room,” he elaborated. “We understand that the [outside] speculation will not be beneficial so it is about striving to fix it in there.”

“I think the manager has been superb. I personally have a excellent relationship with him,” Bellingham concluded. “After the spell of games where we drew a few, we had some very productive conversations behind the scenes.”

“Everything passes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, possibly talking as much about poor form as everything.