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“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” the manager insisted, maybe affirming a tad forcefully. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he continued on the morning before Manchester City return to the Santiago Bernabéu for another instalment of a contemporary rivalry. “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 alter for good, and for good: this opportunity is an imperative, too.

Urgent Meetings After Poor Setback

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was in plentiful company. Long after the final whistle, urgent meetings carried on, the club’s board reaching their own verdicts after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their diagnoses were not the same and while radical changes are being postponed, patience is finite, the names of potential replacements already out. “These are scenarios you must deal with, yet my mind is fixed only on the game, on what I can influence,” Alonso commented

“Certainly the trainer devised an effective approach, but when it comes down to it, the players execute on the field,” one of the squad's leaders stated. “A 2-0 defeat to Celta indicates an issue that lies with us, not the manager.”

A Rapid Deterioration After Initial Promise

City will be his 28th game 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 draws will not do, 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. Presented as a tactical disciplinarian, precisely the required remedy after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was an anomaly at a star-driven institution.

When Madrid triumphed in El Clásico in late October, they moved five points ahead at the top. They had triumphed in twelve out of thirteen competitive games, although the setback was significant: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a missive a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. Institutionally, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was radio silence.

Strains Coming to Light

Within the dressing room, the verdict was evident: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Asked here if he would repeat that decision, Alonso answered: “The intent behind that question eludes me. When a situation on the pitch demands a choice, I make it.” Frictions had been brought to the surface, a rift between coach and some players. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The pieces weren’t fitting as they should. A typical grievance began to surface about all the directives, the film sessions, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Over a week after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by Rayo, Elche and Girona. After a delay, talks were held to fix fault lines or at least cover cracks, to restore tranquility. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Short-Lived Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been gathered a day early, it seemed some compromise had been established; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. Rapprochement was orchestrated when Vinícius greeted the 44-year-old as he departed. Two days off followed. A few days after, though, Celta overcame them and so it unravels again.

That it is public knowledge that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as significant as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be rebutted, but it is intentional. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and bad luck, not even truly convincing himself, Madrid were terrible against Celta: an absence of character, poor commitment, a lack of organization.

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 redirect attention to the match, which he did with almost every response. The most concise reply he gave might have been the most significant, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the entire team was behind him, Alonso replied in a single word: “yes.”

“Managing Real Madrid doesn't involve transforming the culture; it requires fitting in,” Alonso continued. “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 unit, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it from above, he replied: “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.”