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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” Xabi Alonso stated emphatically, possibly protesting somewhat excessively. “Being the manager of Real Madrid means you are always prepared,” he remarked on the morning before Pep Guardiola's side visit once more the Santiago Bernabéu for a new instalment of a very modern classic. “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 change immediately, and permanently: this moment is an imperative, too.

Crisis Talks After Dismal Setback

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was far from the only one. Long after the final whistle, crisis talks continued, the club’s hierarchy drawing their own conclusions after a mere one victory in five league games. Their analyses were not the same and while severe measures are temporarily shelved, tolerance has limits, the names of candidates already in the public domain. “One must confront such circumstances, but my focus is solely on the match, on elements within my power,” 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 Descent After Early Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth match 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 ties are unacceptable, and there’s invariably another candidate who can coach. Things have indeed shifted swiftly, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Hailed as a structured planner, precisely the required remedy after a season of laissez-faire and failure, Alonso was an anomaly at a squad-centric organization.

When Madrid won the 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 exposed fissures. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a missive a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. Institutionally, rather than backing the coach, there was silence.

Frictions Brought to the Surface

Within the dressing room, the assessment was obvious: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would make the same call, 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 exposed, a separation between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A common complaint began to surface about all the instructions, the videos, 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. Able to play direct, they overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those drew at Rayo, Elche and Girona. Eventually, talks were held to repair cracks or at least mask the problems, to bring calm. 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 established; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. Reconciliation was staged when Vinícius greeted the coach as he departed. A brief break followed. A few days after, though, Celta beat them and so it unravels again.

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 calculated. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and injustice, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were terrible against Celta: an absence of character, a deficient mentality, no structure.

The Coach: The Easiest Target

But the most vulnerable point, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the actual football, was the central theme to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to refocus on the match, which he did with nearly each answer. The most concise reply 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 solitary term: “yes.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” 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 isolated 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 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.”