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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” Xabi Alonso insisted, maybe asserting somewhat excessively. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he added on the day before Manchester City return to the Santiago Bernabéu for another meeting 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”. Losing and things could shift instantly, and permanently: this chance is an obligation, too.

Crisis Talks After Dismal Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso said he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was not alone. Long after the final whistle, urgent meetings continued, the club’s leadership reaching their own verdicts after a mere one victory in five league games. Their diagnoses were not the same and while drastic decisions remain on hold, tolerance has limits, the names of candidates already circulating. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso commented

“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 stated. “A 2-0 defeat to Celta indicates an issue that lies with us, not the manager.”

A Swift Decline After Initial Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it may prove to be his farewell at a club where a crisis is always just two losses around the corner, where even sharing points is insufficient, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed evolved rapidly, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Hailed as a systems coach, the ideal solution after a season of laissez-faire and failure, Alonso was counter-cultural at a squad-centric organization.

When Madrid won the clásico in late October, they established a five-point lead at the top. They had won 12 of 13 competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also highlighted flaws. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a statement a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. Institutionally, rather than supporting the trainer, there was radio silence.

Strains Brought to the Surface

Internally, the assessment was clear: Alonso shouldn’t have taken Vinícius off. Questioned on this point 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.” Strains had been laid bare, a rift between coach and some players. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The pieces weren’t fitting as they should. A common complaint began to surface about all the instructions, the video analysis, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Over a week after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, beginning a run of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those drew at Rayo, Elche and Girona. Eventually, talks were held to mend divisions or at least paper over the issues, to establish peace. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been gathered a day early, it seemed some compromise had been established; Alonso accommodating their demands 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 falls apart once more.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is on the line is as significant as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be disputed, but it is deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about injuries and injustice, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were terrible against Celta: an absence of character, no attitude, an absence of tactical shape.

The Manager: The Simplest Fix

But the weakest link, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the sporting matters, dominated the buildup 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 almost every response. The briefest response he gave might have been the most revealing, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the complete roster was behind him, Alonso replied in a single word: “yes.”

“Managing Real Madrid doesn't involve transforming the culture; it requires fitting in,” 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 in unison, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it 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.”