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“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” Xabi Alonso stated emphatically, perhaps protesting a little too much. “Being the manager of Real Madrid means you are always prepared,” he continued on the morning before Pep Guardiola's side step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for a new instalment of a contemporary rivalry. “I am eager for what lies ahead, beginning tomorrow, a chance to transform the frustration. Our sole focus is City. In this sport, whether good or bad, situations evolve rapidly.” A defeat and things could alter for good, and permanently: this chance is an obligation, too.

Urgent Meetings After Desperate Setback

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso said he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was not alone. Long after the final whistle, urgent meetings continued, the club’s leadership forming their own opinions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their assessments were not the same and while radical changes are temporarily shelved, forbearance is running out, the names of possible successors 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,” Aurélien Tchouaméni 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 Descent After Initial Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth outing 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 ties are unacceptable, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed shifted swiftly, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Sold as a structured planner, precisely the required remedy 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 opened a five-point gap at the top. They had secured twelve victories in thirteen competitive games, although the loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also highlighted flaws. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior stormed off 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. Institutionally, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was radio silence.

Frictions Emerging

Behind the scenes, the assessment was obvious: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Questioned on this point 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.” Tensions had been brought to the surface, a separation between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The components weren't meshing as they should. A common complaint began to slip out about all the instructions, the videos, the extended practices. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Over a week after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they defeated 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 establish peace. Focus was directed at the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Reconciliation

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. Rapprochement was orchestrated when Vinícius greeted the manager as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. Four days later, though, Celta beat them and so it unravels again.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is under scrutiny is as important 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 player absences and unfairness, not even truly convincing himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: an absence of character, no attitude, no structure.

The Coach: The Simplest Fix

But the simplest fix, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the sporting matters, 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 significant, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the entire team was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

“Managing Real Madrid doesn't involve transforming the culture; it requires fitting in,” Alonso added. “We understand the ethos of Real Madrid thoroughly; it's what makes it the globe's greatest club. One must adjust, absorb knowledge, engage with the squad. Certain days bring success, others less so. We must confront this with vigor and optimism; it's the sole path to reversal.”

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 answered: “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.”