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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the manager stated emphatically, perhaps asserting a little too much. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he remarked on the day before Pep Guardiola's side step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for a new meeting of a frequent heavyweight clash. “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”. Failure and things could change immediately, and for good: this moment is an obligation, too.

Crisis Talks After Dismal Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was in plentiful company. Long after the final whistle, crisis talks carried on, the club’s leadership drawing their own conclusions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their assessments were not the same and while severe measures are temporarily shelved, forbearance is running out, the names of possible successors already out. “These are scenarios you must deal with, yet my mind is fixed only on the game, on what I can influence,” Alonso stated in the press conference

“Certainly the trainer devised an effective approach, but when it comes down to it, the players execute on the field,” the French midfielder remarked. “A 2-0 defeat to Celta indicates an issue that lies with us, not the manager.”

A Swift Deterioration After Early Success

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a turmoil is perpetually looming after a few setbacks, where even ties are unacceptable, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed changed fast, even if the seeds of the problem were there from the start. Sold as a structured planner, exactly what they needed after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was counter-cultural at a squad-centric organization.

When Madrid won the clásico in late October, they established a five-point lead at the top. They had secured twelve victories in thirteen competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also highlighted flaws. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a statement a few days later he apologised to everyone except Alonso. Institutionally, rather than supporting the trainer, there was radio silence.

Strains Brought to the Surface

Internally, the conclusion was clear: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would do that again, Alonso responded: “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.” Frictions had been exposed, a disconnect between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The components weren't meshing as they should. A typical grievance began to slip out about all the orders, the video analysis, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

More than a week after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, initiating a spell of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by Rayo, Elche and Girona. After a delay, talks were held to repair cracks or at least mask the problems, to bring calm. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Short-Lived Truce

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 orchestrated when Vinícius embraced the coach as he departed. Two days off followed. Four days later, though, Celta overcame them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is public knowledge that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as important 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 convincing himself, Madrid were terrible against Celta: a lack of style, poor commitment, an absence of tactical shape.

The Gaffer: The Easiest Target

But the most vulnerable point, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the sporting matters, overshadowed the preparation 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 nearly each answer. The shortest answer he gave might have been the most telling, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad 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 stated. “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 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 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.”