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“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” Xabi Alonso declared, maybe affirming a tad forcefully. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he remarked on the eve before the English champions visit once more the Santiago Bernabéu for another edition 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.” Failure and things could change immediately, and definitively: this chance is an obligation, too.

Emergency Discussions After Poor Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso said he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was not alone. Late into the night, emergency discussions continued, the club’s hierarchy reaching their own verdicts after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their analyses were divergent and while severe measures are being postponed, patience is finite, the names of possible successors already in the public domain. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso stated in the press conference

“For sure the coach had a good plan but, in the end we, the players, are the ones on the pitch,” one of the squad's leaders remarked. “If we lost 2-0 to Celta, there’s a problem that’s on us: it’s not the coach’s fault.”

A Quick Deterioration After Early Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a state of emergency is perpetually looming after a few setbacks, where even ties are unacceptable, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed evolved rapidly, even if the seeds of the problem were there from the start. Sold as a tactical disciplinarian, 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 moved five points ahead at the top. They had won 12 of 13 competitive games, although the loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a missive a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. Institutionally, rather than backing the coach, there was silence.

Frictions Emerging

Within the dressing room, the conclusion was obvious: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Asked here if he would do that again, Alonso responded: “I don’t know what that question is for. If I see in the moment that I have to take a decision on the pitch, I do.” Tensions had been laid bare, a disconnect between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The pieces weren’t fitting as they should. A familiar lament began to emerge about all the directives, the film sessions, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were overcome at Liverpool, initiating a spell of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, 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 mask the problems, to restore tranquility. Focus turned on the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Truce

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. Rapprochement was staged when Vinícius hugged the 44-year-old as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. Subsequently, though, Celta defeated them and so it unravels again.

That it is public knowledge that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as significant 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 bad luck, not even truly convincing himself, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: an absence of character, no attitude, a lack of organization.

The Coach: The Simplest Fix

But the simplest fix, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the on-pitch performance, was the central theme 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 virtually all his replies. The shortest answer he gave might have been the most telling, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the complete roster was behind him, Alonso replied in a one word: “yes.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” Alonso added. “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 in unison, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit 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.”