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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the manager insisted, perhaps asserting a little too much. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he added on the day before Manchester City return to the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest edition of a frequent heavyweight clash. “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.” Losing and things could alter for good, and permanently: this moment is an imperative, too.

Emergency Discussions After Dismal Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was in plentiful company. Long after the final whistle, urgent meetings persisted, the club’s leadership drawing their own conclusions after a mere one victory in five league games. Their analyses were not the same and while drastic decisions are being postponed, patience is finite, the names of possible successors already circulating. “One must confront such circumstances, but my focus is solely on the match, on elements within my power,” Alonso commented

“For sure the coach had a good plan but, in the end we, the players, are the ones on the pitch,” 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 Decline After Initial Success

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a state of emergency is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even ties are unacceptable, 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. Sold as a systems coach, exactly what they needed after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was counter-cultural at a squad-centric organization.

When Madrid triumphed in El Clásico in late October, they established a five-point lead at the top. They had secured twelve victories in thirteen competitive games, although the setback was significant: 5-2 at Atlético. It also revealed cracks. 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. From the club's leadership, rather than backing the coach, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Strains Emerging

Internally, the assessment was obvious: Alonso shouldn’t have taken Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would do that again, Alonso answered: “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 made his frustrations public. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A typical grievance began to emerge about all the instructions, the videos, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those drew at Rayo, Elche and Girona. Belatedly, talks were held to repair cracks or at least cover cracks, to restore tranquility. Focus was directed at the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Rapprochement

In Bilbao, where they had been assembled a day early, it seemed some compromise had been found; Alonso yielding to their requests more than they did his. A thawing of relations was staged when Vinícius hugged the coach as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. Four days later, though, Celta overcame them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is known 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 calculated. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and unfairness, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: a lack of style, no attitude, an absence of tactical shape.

The Gaffer: The Most Obvious Solution

But the simplest fix, 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 virtually all his replies. The briefest response 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 one word: “yes.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” Alonso added. “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 alone that Alonso talked of a team, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of backing or its absence from above, he commented: “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.”