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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” Xabi Alonso declared, perhaps affirming a little too much. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he continued on the morning before the English champions visit once more the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest meeting 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 definitively: this chance is an obligation, too.

Emergency Discussions After Dismal Setback

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was far from the only one. Late into the night, urgent meetings persisted, the club’s leadership reaching their own verdicts after a mere one victory in five league games. Their assessments were not the same and while radical changes are temporarily shelved, tolerance has limits, 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 said here

“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. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”

A Quick Deterioration After Initial Success

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a crisis is always just two losses around the corner, where even sharing points is insufficient, 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. Hailed 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 triumphed in El Clásico in late October, they established a five-point lead at the top. They had triumphed in twelve out of thirteen competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also revealed cracks. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a missive a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than supporting the trainer, there was silence.

Frictions Emerging

Within the dressing room, the assessment was evident: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would repeat that decision, Alonso replied: “The intent behind that question eludes me. When a situation on the pitch demands a choice, I make it.” Tensions had been laid bare, a separation between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had made his frustrations public. The pieces weren’t fitting as they should. A common complaint began to slip out about all the directives, the video analysis, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, beginning a run of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they beat 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 bring calm. Focus turned on the footballers for the first time.

A Short-Lived Reconciliation

In Bilbao, where they had been assembled a day early, it seemed some middle ground had been reached; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. Reconciliation was staged when Vinícius embraced the 44-year-old as he departed. A brief break followed. Subsequently, though, Celta beat them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is on the line is as notable as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be rebutted, but it is deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and unfairness, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: a lack of style, poor commitment, a lack of organization.

The Coach: The Most Obvious Solution

But the weakest link, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the on-pitch performance, overshadowed the preparation to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to refocus on the match, which he did with almost every response. The shortest answer he gave might have been the most revealing, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad 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. “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 isolated that Alonso talked of a team, a club, that goes in unison, and when attention was turned to the question of backing or its absence from above, he commented: “Our contact with the board is continuous, stemming from belief, solidarity, and care. We stand as one in this situation. Our mindset is geared to confront all obstacles: the team is cohesive, fully believing we can triumph tomorrow, with absolute certainty. It's the Champions League. The Bernabéu is our stage. The ambiance will be unforgettable. That fosters a distinct vitality, particularly within the squad.”