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“We are a collective, a single entity, and we are all in this as one,” the manager insisted, perhaps protesting somewhat excessively. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he continued on the eve before Pep Guardiola's side visit once more the Santiago Bernabéu for a new meeting of a frequent heavyweight clash. “I anticipate the challenge ahead, starting tomorrow—an opening to redirect the disappointment. Our minds are fixed solely on City. Football, for better or worse, is a game of swift changes.” Losing and things could change immediately, and definitively: this opportunity is an obligation, too.

Crisis Talks After Dismal Setback

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso said he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was not alone. Late into the night, urgent meetings continued, the club’s board forming their own opinions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their diagnoses were not the same and while severe measures are temporarily shelved, patience is finite, the names of candidates already circulating. “One must confront such circumstances, but my focus is solely on the match, on elements within my power,” Alonso stated in the press conference

“Undoubtedly the manager prepared a solid strategy, but ultimately, we the footballers are the ones performing,” the French midfielder stated. “A 2-0 defeat to Celta indicates an issue that lies with us, not the manager.”

A Rapid Decline After Early Promise

City will be his 28th game in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a turmoil is always just two losses around the corner, where even ties are unacceptable, and there’s perpetually an alternative who can coach. Things have indeed shifted swiftly, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Presented as a structured planner, precisely the required remedy after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was an anomaly at a players’ club.

When Madrid triumphed in El Clásico in late October, they opened a five-point gap at the top. They had triumphed in twelve out of thirteen competitive games, although the loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a letter a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. At the executive level, rather than backing the coach, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Tensions Emerging

Internally, the assessment was evident: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would make the same call, Alonso replied: “I am unsure of the purpose of that query. If, in the moment, I believe a decision is required on the field, I will make it.” Frictions had been laid bare, a separation between coach and some players. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The components weren't meshing as they should. A typical grievance began to emerge about all the instructions, the videos, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Over a week after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, beginning a run of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they defeated 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 bring calm. Focus turned on the footballers for the first time.

A Short-Lived Rapprochement

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some middle ground had been found; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. A thawing of relations was displayed when Vinícius greeted the manager as he departed. A brief break followed. A few days after, though, Celta beat 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 rebutted, but it is intentional. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and injustice, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were terrible against Celta: no identity, a deficient mentality, an absence of tactical shape.

The Coach: The Simplest Fix

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 bring it back 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 complete roster was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

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