🔗 Share this article Xabi Alonso Treading a Thin Path at the Bernabéu Despite Squad Support. No forward in Los Blancos' history had gone scoreless for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but eventually he was unleashed and he had a message to broadcast, performed for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in an extended drought and was commencing only his fifth game this season, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the advantage against the English champions. Then he spun and charged towards the touchline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the boss in the spotlight for whom this could signal an profound relief. “This is a tough period for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Performances aren’t coming off and I aimed to demonstrate people that we are united with the coach.” By the time Rodrygo spoke, the advantage had been surrendered, a defeat ensuing. City had reversed the score, going 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso noted. That can occur when you’re in a “sensitive” state, he added, but at least Madrid had reacted. Ultimately, they could not pull off a comeback. Endrick, brought on having played a handful of minutes all season, rattled the bar in the final seconds. A Delayed Judgment “The effort fell short,” Rodrygo said. The question was whether it would be adequate for Alonso to keep his position. “We didn't view it as [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been presented externally, and how it was understood behind closed doors. “We demonstrated that we’re supporting the coach: we have given a good account, given 100%,” Courtois added. And so the final decision was withheld, sentencing delayed, with fixtures against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon. A Different Form of Defeat Madrid had been defeated at home for the second time in four days, extending their poor form to two wins in eight, but this seemed a more respectable. This was Manchester City, as opposed to a lesser opponent. Streamlined, they had competed with intensity, the most obvious and most critical charge not levelled at them this time. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a converted penalty, almost salvaging something at the death. There were “many of very good things” about this display, the boss said, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, not this time. The Stadium's Ambivalent Response That was not entirely the case. There were periods in the latter period, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At the conclusion, a section of supporters had done so again, although there was in addition sporadic clapping. But primarily, there was a subdued flow to the doors. “That’s normal, we understand it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso added: “It’s nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were moments when they applauded too.” Squad Support Stands Strong “I sense the support of the players,” Alonso said. And if he stood by them, they supported him too, at least for the cameras. There has been a rapprochement, talks: the coach had listened to them, arguably more than they had embraced him, finding common ground not quite in the compromise. How lasting a solution that is is still an unresolved issue. One little incident in the after-game press conference felt notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to follow his own path, Alonso had let that notion to remain unanswered, responding: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we understand each other well and he understands what he is implying.” A Starting Point of Reaction Crucially though, he could be content that there was a fight, a pushback. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they defended him. This support may have been theatrical, done out of duty or self-preservation, but in this context, it was important. The commitment with which they played had been too – even if there is a risk of the most basic of requirements somehow being framed as a form of positive. The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a vision, that their failings were not his doing. “In my view my teammate Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The only way is [for] the players to improve the attitude. The attitude is the key thing and today we have witnessed a difference.” Jude Bellingham, pressed if they were behind the coach, also responded in numbers: “100%.” “We persist in striving to solve it in the locker room,” he said. “We know that the [outside] noise will not be productive so it is about trying to fix it in there.” “I think the coach has been excellent. I individually have a strong rapport with him,” Bellingham concluded. “Following the sequence of games where we were held a few, we had some honest conversations internally.” “Every situation concludes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, maybe talking as much about a difficult spell as everything.
No forward in Los Blancos' history had gone scoreless for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but eventually he was unleashed and he had a message to broadcast, performed for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in an extended drought and was commencing only his fifth game this season, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the advantage against the English champions. Then he spun and charged towards the touchline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the boss in the spotlight for whom this could signal an profound relief. “This is a tough period for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Performances aren’t coming off and I aimed to demonstrate people that we are united with the coach.” By the time Rodrygo spoke, the advantage had been surrendered, a defeat ensuing. City had reversed the score, going 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso noted. That can occur when you’re in a “sensitive” state, he added, but at least Madrid had reacted. Ultimately, they could not pull off a comeback. Endrick, brought on having played a handful of minutes all season, rattled the bar in the final seconds. A Delayed Judgment “The effort fell short,” Rodrygo said. The question was whether it would be adequate for Alonso to keep his position. “We didn't view it as [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been presented externally, and how it was understood behind closed doors. “We demonstrated that we’re supporting the coach: we have given a good account, given 100%,” Courtois added. And so the final decision was withheld, sentencing delayed, with fixtures against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon. A Different Form of Defeat Madrid had been defeated at home for the second time in four days, extending their poor form to two wins in eight, but this seemed a more respectable. This was Manchester City, as opposed to a lesser opponent. Streamlined, they had competed with intensity, the most obvious and most critical charge not levelled at them this time. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a converted penalty, almost salvaging something at the death. There were “many of very good things” about this display, the boss said, and there could be “no criticism” of his players, not this time. The Stadium's Ambivalent Response That was not entirely the case. There were periods in the latter period, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At the conclusion, a section of supporters had done so again, although there was in addition sporadic clapping. But primarily, there was a subdued flow to the doors. “That’s normal, we understand it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso added: “It’s nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were moments when they applauded too.” Squad Support Stands Strong “I sense the support of the players,” Alonso said. And if he stood by them, they supported him too, at least for the cameras. There has been a rapprochement, talks: the coach had listened to them, arguably more than they had embraced him, finding common ground not quite in the compromise. How lasting a solution that is is still an unresolved issue. One little incident in the after-game press conference felt notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to follow his own path, Alonso had let that notion to remain unanswered, responding: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we understand each other well and he understands what he is implying.” A Starting Point of Reaction Crucially though, he could be content that there was a fight, a pushback. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they defended him. This support may have been theatrical, done out of duty or self-preservation, but in this context, it was important. The commitment with which they played had been too – even if there is a risk of the most basic of requirements somehow being framed as a form of positive. The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a vision, that their failings were not his doing. “In my view my teammate Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The only way is [for] the players to improve the attitude. The attitude is the key thing and today we have witnessed a difference.” Jude Bellingham, pressed if they were behind the coach, also responded in numbers: “100%.” “We persist in striving to solve it in the locker room,” he said. “We know that the [outside] noise will not be productive so it is about trying to fix it in there.” “I think the coach has been excellent. I individually have a strong rapport with him,” Bellingham concluded. “Following the sequence of games where we were held a few, we had some honest conversations internally.” “Every situation concludes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, maybe talking as much about a difficult spell as everything.