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“We are a collective, a single entity, and we are all in this as one,” the manager insisted, perhaps affirming a little too much. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he remarked on the day before the English champions step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for a new 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 moment is an duty, too.

Crisis Talks After Poor Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was far from the only one. Late into the night, crisis talks persisted, the club’s board forming their own opinions after a mere one victory in five league games. Their assessments were not the same and while drastic decisions remain on hold, patience is finite, the names of potential replacements already circulating. “These are scenarios you must deal with, yet my mind is fixed only on the game, on what I can influence,” Alonso commented

“For sure the coach had a good plan but, in the end we, the players, are the ones on the pitch,” Aurélien Tchouaméni stated. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”

A Rapid Descent After Initial Success

City will be his 28th game in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a turmoil is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even sharing points is insufficient, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed changed fast, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Sold as a structured planner, exactly what they needed after a season of laissez-faire and failure, Alonso was counter-cultural at a squad-centric organization.

When Madrid secured victory against Barcelona in late October, they established a five-point lead 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 headed directly for the dressing room, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a missive a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. Institutionally, rather than backing the coach, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Frictions Emerging

Internally, the verdict was evident: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would repeat that decision, Alonso answered: “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 brought to the surface, a disconnect between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The pieces weren’t fitting as they should. A familiar lament began to slip out about all the orders, the video analysis, the extended practices. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

More than a week after the clásico, Madrid were overcome at Liverpool, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. Capable of a more direct style, they defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those drew at Rayo, Elche and Girona. After a delay, talks were held to repair cracks or at least cover cracks, to establish peace. Focus was directed at the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Rapprochement

In Bilbao, where they had been gathered a day early, it seemed some agreement had been reached; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. Rapprochement was orchestrated when Vinícius hugged the coach as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. Subsequently, though, Celta defeated them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is under scrutiny is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be denied, but it is deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about injuries and unfairness, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: an absence of character, no attitude, an absence of tactical shape.

The Coach: The Simplest Fix

But the simplest fix, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the on-pitch performance, dominated the buildup 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 virtually all his replies. The most concise reply 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 solitary term: “yes.”

“The role of Real Madrid coach isn't to alter the culture; it is to adjust,” Alonso stated. “The culture of Real Madrid is well-known to us; it's the reason for its status as the world's premier club. Adaptation, continuous learning, and player communication are key. There will be highs and lows. Meeting challenges with drive and a positive mindset is the only route to improvement.”

It was when he was asked if he felt alone that Alonso talked of a unit, a club, that goes together, 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.”