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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 affirming somewhat excessively. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he remarked on the morning before Pep Guardiola's side return to the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest instalment of a contemporary rivalry. “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 shift instantly, and definitively: this chance is an obligation, too.

Crisis Talks After Dismal Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso said he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was not alone. Into the early hours, emergency discussions carried on, the club’s leadership reaching their own verdicts after a mere one victory in five league games. Their assessments were different and while drastic decisions remain on hold, patience is finite, 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 said here

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

A Quick Descent After Initial Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it could be his last 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 perpetually an alternative who can coach. Things have indeed evolved rapidly, even if the seeds of the problem were there from the start. Hailed as a systems coach, precisely the required remedy after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was a cultural shock at a star-driven institution.

When Madrid triumphed in El Clásico in late October, they moved five points ahead at the top. They had secured twelve victories in thirteen competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also revealed cracks. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a letter a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. Institutionally, rather than supporting the trainer, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Tensions Coming to Light

Internally, the verdict was evident: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Asked here if he would make the same call, Alonso responded: “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.” Tensions had been exposed, a separation between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A familiar lament began to surface about all the orders, the videos, the lengthy training. 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. Capable of a more direct style, they defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those tied with Rayo, Elche and Girona. Eventually, talks were held to fix fault lines or at least cover cracks, to establish peace. Focus turned on the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some compromise had been established; Alonso yielding to their requests more than they did his. Rapprochement was displayed when Vinícius hugged the manager as he departed. A brief break followed. Four days later, though, Celta overcame them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is under scrutiny is as notable 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 fitness issues and bad luck, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: no identity, a deficient mentality, an absence of tactical shape.

The Coach: The Simplest Fix

But the weakest link, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the sporting matters, was the central theme 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 single word: “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 by himself that Alonso talked of a unit, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit from above, he commented: “Dialogue with the leadership is ongoing, founded on trust, togetherness, and mutual respect. We are all united in this endeavor. We are psychologically prepared for any challenge: the squad is unified, certain of victory tomorrow, without a shadow of doubt. This is the Champions League. We are playing at the Bernabéu. The environment will be electric. That generates a unique dynamism, even among the players.”