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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the manager declared, 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 another edition of a frequent heavyweight clash. “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”. A defeat and things could change immediately, and permanently: this chance is an duty, too.

Urgent Meetings After Poor Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was not alone. Long after the final whistle, crisis talks carried on, the club’s board drawing their own conclusions after a single win in five league games. Their diagnoses were different and while drastic decisions are being postponed, forbearance is running out, the names of possible successors already out. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso stated in the press conference

“Undoubtedly the manager prepared a solid strategy, but ultimately, we the footballers are the ones performing,” one of the squad's leaders said. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”

A Swift Deterioration After Early Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a turmoil is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even draws will not do, 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. Presented as a tactical disciplinarian, the ideal solution after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was an anomaly at a star-driven institution.

When Madrid secured victory against Barcelona in late October, they established a five-point lead at the top. They had won 12 of 13 competitive games, although the setback was significant: 5-2 at Atlético. It also highlighted flaws. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior headed directly for the dressing room, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a letter a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. At the executive level, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was silence.

Frictions Coming to Light

Internally, the conclusion was obvious: Alonso shouldn’t have taken Vinícius off. Asked here if he would repeat that decision, Alonso replied: “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.” Frictions had been brought to the surface, a separation between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had made his frustrations public. The pieces weren’t fitting as they should. A familiar lament began to emerge about all the directives, the videos, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Over a week after the clásico, Madrid were overcome at Liverpool, initiating a spell of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by Rayo, Elche and Girona. After a delay, talks were held to repair cracks or at least cover cracks, to establish peace. Focus turned on the footballers for the first time.

A Short-Lived Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been assembled a day early, it seemed some agreement had been found; Alonso yielding to their requests more than they did his. Reconciliation was displayed when Vinícius hugged the coach as he departed. A brief break followed. Four days later, though, Celta overcame them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is on the line is as notable as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be disputed, but it is calculated. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about fitness issues and bad luck, not even truly convincing himself, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: an absence of character, poor commitment, an absence of tactical shape.

The Coach: The Simplest Fix

But the most vulnerable point, 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 refocus on the match, which he did with almost every response. The shortest answer he gave might have been the most significant, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad 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 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 hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit 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.”